Question about new chemo drugs - Cancer: Colon Message Board

4dad · 04-08-2005, 07:33 AM

Hi all,

My Dad was diagnosed with Stage III colon cancer back in March of 2003. He had a tumor the size of a grapefruit in his lower colon near the rectum. He had radiation (this almost killed him by burning his insides) and chemo (gave him a blood clot in his leg) all of which all he didn't do well with. Once the tumor shrunk it was removed by surgery and he was given a temporary bag. He seemed to be doing very well at this point. But only after 6 months they scheduled a reconnect (is this too soon?) and ever since then things have been real bad. The pain afterwards was severe and they couldn't figure out why until they discovered that the tumor grew back at an alarmingly fast rate and was the size of a tennis ball. So his only choice at this point was to have the complete colostomy and remove the tumor once again. They couldn't remove a 1" margin because the tumor was sitting on a major artery. He's had all sorts of problems with blockage in his small intestine and kidney blockage from a second round of radiation after the complete removal of the colon. He still has his rectum which is producing a so much mucous and a lot of discomfort with spasms. The doctors says this can happen because it is a living organ but my father kept saying he thought it was the cancer. I think he was right because this past weekend we learned the cancer has once again returned in the same spot. The doctors have said his cancer is aggressive but not progressive. It has not been found anywhere else in his body even though 2 out of 10 lymph nodes were positive for cancer at the start. My father is running out of options. He is not a candidate for anymore radiation or surgery. The last ray of hope is with chemo and the doctors are telling him there are new drugs out there that might help him. Does anyone know about these new drugs? I'm so worried for my Dad. He is weak and tired. He is on heavy pain meds. I don't know how much more this man can endure.

Thank you for any help or advice you can give. I'm praying for all of you who are dealing with this yourself or for a loved one.

Lori

ktee_uk · 04-09-2005, 01:52 AM

Hi Lori

Sorry to hear of your dad's terrible time. He has been through a lot hasn't he. It would be helpfull if you could let us know what type of chemo he has already had so that others on the boards could chip in with new suggestions.

The only chemo drugs my family have experienced are oxaliplatin/5fu/leucrovin which was given to husband who was diag stag 4 with primary tumor in high end of rectum. He had resection first, then the chemo was to shrink tumors in his liver. I do not know how it would affect the type of tumor your father has.

My mother had exoloda pills. She was also stage 4 with tumor to anterior section of colon. Her treatment was palliative only but did also shrink mets to liver and probably extended her life by 3 months or so of good living.

hope this helps but there are many others here who might be able to help better.

regards and good luck
ktee

4dad · 04-09-2005, 10:45 AM

Thank you so much for responding. I wish I had all of the names of the chemo medications he will be given. My father does not live close to me and unfortunately I'm getting the information from his wife. It is difficult for her to keep track of everything. I do know my father was given one treatment of conventional chemo drugs the first time which did not get rid of the cancer. Now we are going into his second round. He had a visit with his oncologist yesterday to discuss this. They will begin a very aggressive plan including the use of 3 different types of medications. One is the conventional type chemo, the other is something they will administer through a port he will have put in on Monday and the last is something new called a Smart Bomb. He will go in 1 day on and then 1 day off. My stepmother knew nothing of the duration of treatment but she suspected about 6 weeks and each treatment will last 4 hours. Exhausting! Some of the side effects will be tingling and coldness in his extremities (he will be able to have anything with ice in it) and of course the typical tiredness. The doctor said there is a 50% chance of getting rid of it which isn't the best statistic but at least it is better than 0%. I'm trying to look at it that way.

I did some reading of people who were told they were going to die from cancer. Then they went into very aggressive chemo treatments in a last effort to save them and their tumors either shrunk or disappeared. I sure hope this is the case for my Dad.

One more thing I wrote incorrectly in my first post is that the tumor is sitting on nerves and that is why it is so painful for him and can't be completely removed with surgery. The good part is has not spread.

Thanks again. If I get more information on the types of drugs he'll be getting I'll be sure to post it in hopes for some more help.

Lori