 throat cancer treatment
My father was recently diagnosed with stage IV cancer of the larynx. The tumor is rather large, but the cancer has not spread to any other part of his body as of yet. The doctors recommended a treatment which would begin with chemotherapy, followed by radiation. The chemo they have suggested is a combination of taxotere, cisplatnum and FU5 delivered via infusion. The taxotere and cisplatnum would be given on the first day only and the FU5 would be given for four days, my father would have to be admitted to the hospital for the four days because of the high dosage of chemo involved. It would be on a 21 day cycle and he would have to do it 3 times. The doctor referred to it as "TPF" infusion chemotherapy. Has anyone undergone this type of treatment? I looked into a case study that the doctor had referred me to, the numbers looked good, but the toxicity of the side effects looked pretty severe, so getting any information on it from someone who has actually gone through it would be extremely helpful. Another option is doing chemo/radiation therapy simultaneously, with which the chemo would only involve cisplatnum and only a two day hosital stay while it was administered(during the 1st,3rd and 5th weeks of radiation), but the doctor feels the more aggresive treatment would give my father a better chance. Any information would be greatly appreciated.
Dennis
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