Hi-
My dad is currently on his first round of sutent, and is having a difficult time. It seems that his side effects are pretty much the opposite of what most experience. His blood pressure is high when he first wakes up, but then drops drastically. He gets very dizzy, and falls if he tries to stand up, and becomes disoriented. (orthostatic hypotension). He was having problems with low blood pressure for about a year before he was diagnosed. He's extremely tired as well, and is having problmes with constipation, not diarrhea - atypical side effects, according to his doctor.
I was wondering about the different dosages and their effectiveness. He's currently on the 50mg, 28 days on, 14 days off cycle. I've read about many people switching to the 37.5mg dose. He doesn't want to do that, since he wants to fight it as best he can. (He had a very large tumor removed a couple of months ago, and has multiple lung nodules)
Are there results of any studies that compare the effectiveness of the 37.5 daily dose to the 50mg 4weeks on, 2 weeks off dose? Should he stick it out for a few more cycles and see if the se's get any better?
I saw a reference to the "experts" at the Las Vegas conference comparing the 37.5 dose to the 50mg. Is there a peer reviewed journal article reporting these findings? My dad's doctors definitely feel that better results are obtained by the 50mg dose.
Thanks!