aegil1

aegil1's Recent CancerCompass Activity

• aegil1 has replied to a post on the message board

  I was diagnosed in late March 2012 with Stage IIIC colorectal cancer (sigmoid).  I immediately had it resected laporoscopically (substantial tumor, 8 inches long, entire circumference of colon, did not penetrate colon wall, spread to 15/30 lymph nodes also resected).  CEA levels read 8.9 prior to surgery.  A month after a PET-CT scan showed spread to the liver only (two metastatic lesions, 1.5cm and 0....

  February 26 at 8:00 AM view post

• aegil1 has replied to a post on the message board

  Shitulpatel, two other thoughts also occurred to me regarding your oncologist.  Most oncologists strictly follow standard protocol and until Phase II/III trials are concluded showing objectively significant survival benefits, they will not prescribe anything like celecoxib and capecitabine unless you insist on it.  There are liability issues that your oncologist will not want to risk by putting you on an ex...

  February 25 at 7:05 AM view post

• aegil1 has replied to a post on the message board

  Here's a study on celebrex / celecoxib: http://www.asco.org/ASCOv2/Meetings/Abstracts?&vmview=ab There are many additional trials underway on this regimen, all over the world. Maybe your oncologist ran a mutation panel and determined that it wouldn't be effective in your case.  If he hasn't he needs to make a referral to a genetecist or a research hospital that has that capability.  Genetic testi...

  February 25 at 6:51 AM view post

• aegil1 has replied to a post on the message board

  I also have a KRAS mutation in codon 13d, but this is unrelated to PIK3CA (omit the M, that was mis-typed) mutation.  Depending on the codon, a KRAS mutation can have an impact on whether or not cetuximab is effective, which is a treatment that is irrelevant for where your husband is at and unrelated to the capecitabine and celecoxib regimen that I have mentioned.  There are many different mutations that ca...

  February 25 at 6:14 AM view post

• aegil1 has replied to a post on the message board

  Celecoxib and capecitabine have extremely mild side effects... I am on it and I hardly notice any symptoms (if any).  FOLFOX on the other hand was miserable.  I've been NED for about seven months now and am staying on this regimen.  Your oncologist is wrong; there is limited scientific evidence that celecoxib and capecitabine may dramatically increase survival as a maintenance regimen for Stage 4 color...

  February 25 at 3:34 AM view post

• aegil1 has replied to a post on the message board

  Those odds sound about right. You might want to ask his oncologist to consider putting him on a very mild (and convenient) maintenance regimen of celecoxib (Celebrex) and capecitabine (oral 5-FU). This can increase his odds of recurrence free survival. In theory this regimen can attack and destroy any remaining dormant cancer "stem" cells which are able to lie undetected elsewhere in the body and evade first line che...

  February 24 at 9:37 PM view post

• aegil1 has replied to a post on the message board

  Tatya, Did the surgeon who performed either the colon, liver or lung resection indicate whether the resected specimens were biopsied after your husband's surgeries? If so, you will want to ask if there was total necrosis of cancerous tissue and/or pathologic complete response to the preoperative chemo. If there was, your husband actually has a decent shot of permanent cure. If not, it will likely recur... So the bio...

  February 24 at 7:49 PM view post

• aegil1 has replied to a post on the message board

  Stage 4 colorectal cancer can be curable under limited circumstances.  The criteria for a reasonable chance of remission followed by non-recurrence are as follows:  a) CEA levels below 15; b) metastasis limited to the liver (and in some rarer cases, liver and lung only); c) number of lesions less than 3; d) Age of patient less than 50; e) metastasis must be resectable and/or lesions must experience complete...

  October 24 at 4:06 AM view post