1st recurrence and very upset and scared!!!

I had a total hysterectomy Oct 5, '04 for stage 3OC. I had 7 cycles of taxol and carboplatin, handled them well. My CA125 was back to normal by the end of Nov. '04, it was 23. It was originally 1000. After 19 months out of chemo the CA125 went to 95.A CAT scan from the chest down showed a showdow in the pelvic region and a lesion near the intestine. I just had my 2nd taxol and carbo yesterday. All was going fine except 1/2 way through the carbo I got flushed and itchy so they had to stop it and give me a shot of benadryl. What do I do now if I can't have the carbo? I'll be having a CA125 in 3 weeks.I'm very upset and scared. I literally hate that blood test. Any response will be helpful. Thank you.

[Annekathryn Goodman, M.D.]

Hi There,
It sounds like your cancer  is sensitive to platinum as it has been  two years since your last chemotherapy. I completely agree with the plan to give you carbo and taxol again. Allergies to carboplatin are not rare. When you develop an allergy as you have done, there are two options:

-stop the carboplatin and continue with single agent taxol. Taxol alone is very effective. It can be given in various ways. The two most common ways are either as a 3 hour infusion every three weeks(the dose is usually about 175 mg per meter squared (mg/m2) or as a one hour infusion once a week (dose is 80 mg/m2).

-the second option is to use a special allergy desensitizing protocol for carboplatin or cisplatin. With this approach, the person is admitted to the hospital and the platinum is given as a very slow infusion over 24 hours. Not all hospitals have an allergist on hand who is comfortable doing this or the inpatient facilities to do this.

You should check with your oncologist about what is available at your institution.
best wishes