Tarceva with Dad's Lung Cancer?

Lorri · New User Joined: 21 Mar 2008 Posts: 8

Hello, my dad was recently diagnosed with advanced lung cancer and given 3-6 months to live. His oncologist has advised that he NOT try chemotherapy as he feels given his other conditions, i.e., diabetes, c-diff infection, emphysema and heart condition, the quality of his final weeks might be poor, at best. My sister has just learned of Tarceva, which could prolong the life of a cancer patient up to a year. I have read that a candidate would need to have had at least one course of chemo. Is this accurate information? Does anyone have any thoughts on this? The doctor never mentioned this drug so now I am wondering if my dad is not a candidate. We are going to the lung doctor tomorrow and would like to ask him about it.
Thanks,
Lorri

pbj11 · Site Admin Joined: 12 May 2007 Posts: 805

Hi Lorri,

I'm very sorry to hear about your father's diagnosis and all of his complications.

My husband tried it for one of his treatment lines, but it didn't work for him. The body needs to have the EGRF mutation for it to be effective. It typically works well for Asian-women who have never smoked, but I've seen many great long-term results from totally opposite people. It is very easy on the system compared to other chemo agents. This is an expensive drug (they all are) and is a pill that you take every day. It is covered by prescription benefits that the patient has, but each person's coverage is different.

I don't know if Tarceva is approved for first line treatment in the U.S., but I'm not an expert. You may want to check out Dr. West's website -- Onctalk.com. He is an oncologist with a specialty in lung cancer. Do a Tarceva first line search or ask him the question. He is a very generous person with his time.

Good luck and God bless.

PBJ
_________________
Husband diagnosed with NSCLC Stage IV. (Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer) Fought & lived 2 1/2 years with multiple lines of treatment.

Post describing our battle: http://cancerforums.net/viewtopic.php?t=7026&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

pjean · Regular Joined: 12 Mar 2007 Posts: 21 Location: minnesota

Last april my fiance started Tarceva and it is his first line of treatment and has the cancer on the brain,bones-lots of it stage 4 nsclc. It has been working slowly and is very expensive ,maybe you should seek a second option.

Lorri · New User Joined: 21 Mar 2008 Posts: 8

Hi..thanks for the responses. Does anyone know the cost of Tarceva? Also, my nephew read that there is about a 30% rate of effectiveness for the drug. The doctor told me today it is under 5%. Can anyone explain?
Thanks again so much!
Lorri (and family)

pbj11 · Site Admin Joined: 12 May 2007 Posts: 805

Hi Lorri,

Tarceva is based on survival benefits and can either shrink tumors or hold them stable. Stable is huge in the world of lung cancer. I was wrong about some elements of the EGFR mutation. Apparently you can have a survival benefit from Tarceva without the mutation, but with the mutation the survival percentages increase to high numbers. It's complicated how they calculate these figures. Again, I suggest you look up Tarceva on Onctalk.com. There is scads of accurate info about this drug there. It is a legit site. Here are two posts: http://onctalk.com/bbPress/topic.php?id=245
http://onctalk.com/2008/03/11/lilenbaum-ps2-rand-pii-laskin/

When my husband was on Tarceva in 2006, it cost about 3500.00 for a month's supply. I don't know how much it is now. We only paid 60.00 because he had good prescription insurance. The manufacturer also has a website to help if finances are a problem. Their name is Genentech.

Best wishes,
PBJ
_________________
Husband diagnosed with NSCLC Stage IV. (Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer) Fought & lived 2 1/2 years with multiple lines of treatment.

Post describing our battle: http://cancerforums.net/viewtopic.php?t=7026&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

brainman

Hi Lorri, I am truly sorry about your father's lung cancer. Tarceva is a very commonly used chemotherapy agent. What kind of lung cancer does your father have? The cell type will greatly impact his prognosis. I read that it is a stage IV? That is a very aggressive cancer. However, people have been known to live for a few years if they receive aggressive treatment. Tarceva will not "take care" (cure) your father but it can help prolong his life.

You and your father are in my thoughts and prayers.
_________________
Jim
Site Administrator and long-term cancer survivor
1992 Astrocytoma grade 2, left motor strip
2005 Recurrence this time said to be an Oligodendoglioma grade 3, same location.
My Story Part 1: http://cancerforums.net/viewtopic.php?p=7350
My Story Part 2: http://cancerforums.net/viewtopic.php?t=8029
Blog http://jimhawkinsport.blogspot.com/

atpeace7 · New User Joined: 18 Mar 2008 Posts: 7

Tarceva helped my Mom's cancer tumor go from a 600 to a 6.

BUT, it didn't help heal my mom of her continued pain or help her get back to normal.

I do believe she has lived beyond what they were expecting because if she didn't take it, her lungs would have collapsed under the pressure of the growing tumors.

As I mentioned in a previous post, you might try serious veggie juice (get a juicer), Chitosan, Reishi Mushrooms, Maitake mushrooms, Haelon 351, CO-Q10 as other ways to kill the cancer. Also Vitamin C injections.

I use IHerb.com to buy things cheaper.

Hope this helps.

atpeace7 · New User Joined: 18 Mar 2008 Posts: 7

Lorri, sorry!

Just read your post on your father passing away.

It must be tough.

God bless you.

Tera · Senior User Joined: 31 Dec 2007 Posts: 100

I think that was a different Lorri....spelled Lore.

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