My name is Steve Brown I am 40 YO ( will be 41 on June 30th), I was Diagnosed with Stage IV Adenocarcinoma of The Esophageal/Gastric Junction with Liver Mets, on Jan. 6th 2006. My Family Phys. said I only had a couple months to live. I had a small tumor in the esophagous appx 2-3 cm, and "inumerable" tumors in the Liver, 2 large tumors 6-8 cm, and somewhere around 200 1-2 cm tumors. My Oncologist was not as negative as my family Doc but said he did'nt have anything good to tell me. He did feel if I could handle large doses of chemo, we could get to some form of remission. I guess there is some advantage to being diagnosed with cancer when you are a strong, healthy, 38 yo Fire Fighter. Within 2 weeks of my diagnosis I was in such terrible pain ( the Liver was beginning to fail) that I was taking about 40 mg of morphine, and 80 mg of Dilaudid a day.
I started mid-January on a combination of Cisplatin and Irinotican, sorry I don't remember the dose. This stuff made me sicker than a dog, but my Liver pain began to disappear in 2 weeks. In less than a month I was not taking any pain meds. We did 2 weeks on 1 week off, for 6 weeks, and had a CT. It showed huge improvement. So we went on the same schedule for 6 more weeks, and another CT. That one showed recurrent Cancer, ie. the chemo stopped working. Next I spoke to a specialist at OHSU that my oncologist refered me to, about a drug trial for Cetuximab (marketed under the name Erbitux). I was accepted into the trial, and had weekly doses for 6 weeks, had a CT again it showed improvement. So, 6 more weeks of treatment, and another CT, bad again. So we stopped the Erbitux and started Taxol weekly doses for 6 weeks, another CT, good. 6 more weeks of taxol, CT, Bad. So in November of 2006 I had a Bard Port implanted in my chest and we started on FOLFOX. We continued this regimen for 8-16 weeks at an interval of 1 week on 1 week off, then went to 1 on 2 off, and had several CT's showing improvement. In August of 2007 I had another CT, by this time I only had 2 small, 9-11 mm lesions in my Liver. Next we had a PET Scan and it did'nt even light up on the known lesions in the Liver, but did show some activity in GI Track which is normal, but not defenitive. So we did another Endoscopy ( that was how they found my primary tumor, it has never shown on CT) the same Dr did it and was amazed, he could not find the tumor, double checked his notes and pictures, finally found a small scar, biopsied the entire area, and it all came back negative. Since then we have stopped using the Oxalyplatin, it was cusing pretty severe neuropothy in my hands and feet. But still continue with the 5-FU and Leucovorin, once every 4 weeks. We had gone to 12 weeks between scans and continued to shrink the last 2 lesions (7-8mm in Feb. 2008, and very disorganized and faint on CT) I have not had a CT since February and we are waiting until August this time (6 months)
Sorry this is so long, I just wanted to get the order and combinations in there. For almost a year now I have felt almost completely healthy, except after Chemo. So many people continue to say what a miracle I am. I just want people to know what I went through and see that there is hope. I don't know which of these drugs or combinations worked. I just give God 100% of the credit, but that doesn't mean he can't choose what methods he uses to heal us. I truly believe God gives knowledge and wisdom to Doctors, and he expects us to use what resources he provides. After all the Bible says" ..God allows the rain to fall on the just and the unjust alike.." I hope this helps, I don't know where you are, but my Dr. is William "Bud" Pierce at Salem Hemotology Oncology in Salem, Oregon. He is a very well thought of Oncologist around the country, and travels frequently to speak. If the Oncologist wants to call him, he could share the details.
Again, sorry it's so long, this is the first time I have ever posted my story.