Good news re CA.125.but not sure about new chemo.

Greetings everyone...just received results of latest CA.125 test and it's now reduced to 290...another little drop but a big reduction from mid December's number of 7500. I'm feeling fine, but now my Oncol. wants to keep going, as he feels that we have the cancer 'down' and he wants it 'out' while it's weak. He has come up with a chemo combo called CFM. I've not heard of this before, but wondering if anyone else has? It's supposed to be a 'tried and true' treatment, which I will be starting tomorrow.
I look forward to any comments/input re this chemo.
Wishing each and everyone all the best, and hope you are all doing well.
Best wishes...Helmar.

[freshair]

Hi Helmar,
That's so good that it went down again. Your numbers were so high. You must feel really relieved. I wish I could answer your question but I never heard of it. Is it a new or old drug? Did they give you a card with symptoms, etc. on it? You'll have to let us know as I am very curious now.  

When I was on Carbo/Taxol the second time around it went down to 8 on the 5th treatment and the 6th treatment went to 10. (So now I am resistant) but my oncologist said maybe we will try it again.

I am glad you are feeling fine. That's great to hear.

Garden tasks for me today. It's good relaxation. I staked the peas yesterday and strawberries, raspberries, blueberries are forming. Now the little ones need to be planted-tomatoes, peppers and greens. It's a nice sunny, cool day. I enjoy these days before the hot, humid weather comes on.

Be well and breathe in the good,
:) Helen

[Jatoo]

Hello Helen:

It's great that your numbers are still going down. But why change when the drugs are still working? Somehow there is an excellent reason behind it and I think it is based on what Dr. Goodman stated, "Ovarian cancer is interesting in that the cells in a person's tumor are not all the same." My analysis therefore is that while Taxotere/Carbo or Cisplatin have taken care of the major cells it is very possible that the remaining cells could be more sensitive to other types of drugs.

If what Allan's research C Stands for Cyclophosphamide is correct then they are going back to an old drug (That I think has been used before Taxanes came) that is making a comeback. Cyclophosphamide is also Cytoxan which has great results when combined with Avastin. They are still in the same family of Carboplatin in that they are both alkylating agents. Methotrexate and fluorouracil are both Antimetabolites like Gemzar. In short your new treatment will be like Carbo/Gemzar but in varied forms.

Again it is only an analysis and it can be wrong. The best part is that you can always go back to Taxotere. If this will work for you which I pray, you are opening a new avenue of treatment options for all of us.

Thanks,
Jatoo

[alanpvegas]

Do you mean CMF?

http://www.cancerbackup.org.uk/Treatments/Chemotherapy/Combinationregimen/CMF

[Helmar]

Thankyou for your responses, and although I was a little nervous about starting a new chemo that I'd not heard of before, I guess we have to give these things a go, and hope that maybe this will be 'the one' that will get me off this ovca merry-go-round. :-)
Helen... that's good that your CA.125 was able to get so low....single digits. I can only dream of that... well, at the moment I can only dream of double digits, but working on it. Let me know when your blueberries are ready... just love those, and they are really good for us with all of those antiodidents. I hope you are feeling well, and enjoying the gardening, and better weather that you should be having now. We only have another week, and it wil be officially Winter, but I don't get snow here, and the weather is still sunny and mild, so no complaints. Wishing you all the best...Hugs...Helen..

Hi Alan... yes, my Oncol. told me CFM, but it is indeed CMF. It's an older type chemo as Jatoo said, but my Oncol. tells me that he has had good success here with treating Ovca. Just need to hope it works for me.
Btw... how is your Mum doing? I hope she is feeling much better and eveything is working out well now. Let's know sometime eh?  Hugs...Helen...

Jatoo... It's always good to hear from you, and I hope Melody is feeling well,and doing fine. I'm pretty happy with the reduction in the numbers since mid-December, but my Oncol. thought 7 sessions of the Taxotere/Carbo was enough at this time, as I think he wants to keep it aside if I need it later. I think he is hoping that I can spend some months of it, and so be able to get good results in the future if the need arises for me to have it again.
I had my first treatment of the new 'stuff' today and it went well. The IV only went for about one hour, so that was a 'plus' for me. I hate being there, so pleased to get in and out as quickly as possible. The combo is Cyclophosphamide,Methotrexate, and Fuorouracil. The C and F part is given by injection through the IV infusion, and then I take the Cycl. in tablets... 3 per day for 2 weeks. Next week I go for the IV again, and then I have two weeks off everything a week after the next infusion. I've been home for  7 hours now... have had a number of little meals to combat the nausea, as I don't take the anti-nausea pills. I find if I eat often and small, that does the trick for me. I did take the anti-nausea the first time I had chemo, and I thought it made me feel sicker. My Oncol. told me to drink heaps of fluids, and go to the bathroom as often as I can to get this stuff out of the system, so I don't have the residue hanging around the bladder/kidneys for too long. I think it's potent stuff, but then most of this is I think. My Oncol. said that it should reduce my numbers after the first treatment, so if it doesn, then he may need to go back to the drawing board again. :-)... I've told him I don't want to be looking at 7500 again.....ever. Maybe you could speak with Melody's Oncol. just to get his ideas of this one too Jatoo? I would be interested to hear any other opinions on this also. Best wishes and hugs to you and Melody too.

Just want to wish everyone well, and hope each day brings good news for us all....Helen..