Paracentesis

[OnlyLady]

I have had Ovarian Cancer for almost 2 years and I'm seeing some very good results in the last 3 months from the chemotherapy..a good drop in my CA125.  However, I continue to need paracentesis to eliminate excess fluid from my abdomen.  The last one I had was about 7 weeks ago, and I'm thinking of getting another one today as I've gained about 10 lbs. in the past week...all fluid.  Has anyone had paracentesis performed during their chemo treatments that no longer needs to have it done?  My oncologist tells me that when the numbers get way down in the CA125 (around 10) that the fluid will no longer build up.  Is this true?  Thanks...I really appreciate all the comments in this forum.  Jan

[OnlyLady]

I have found some mention that Avastin was removed from the market by the manufacturer in 2005 because women with ovarian cancer developed holes in their intestines from this drug.  There is no mention that I can find that they have corrected this problem.  Have you heard of this?  
Jan

[OnlyLady]

Thank you for your comments!  I, too, had a very bad case of peritonitis last year, due to the paracentesis.  It was a scary 4 days in the hospital, and one of the oncologists that saw me at that time suggested that a port be inserted into the abdomen to enable them to do the paracentesis without continually having to insert a new needle.  I told them that I thought that would only create a condition for more infections to happen, and I was not in agreement.
Since then, I have only had to have a paracentesis about every 7 weeks.  Both the oncologist and radiologist (who administers the procedure) have told me that the ascites will stop only after my CA125 counts drop to an "acceptable" level.  That has been set for around 10.
I will do more research on the drug Avastin, and suggest it to my team if I think it is something that will help.
My last CA125 reading was 800...down from over 3,000 back in October.  It's a very long road.  I'm having Taxol and Carboplaten administered every 2 weeks, and I am hoping this won't last too much longer.  
And I will pray for you and your wife...
Jan

[EchoUK]

Jan,
If you look in the previous comments you will see some discussions under 'ascites' which is fluid in the abdomen
and area.

I had chemotherapy every three weeks except having to abort a session due to reaction to Taxol and also had a lot of fluid removed (about 32 litres in all) during the same 4 month period. That was July and I haven't had any more removed since the beginning of November.  I had radical surgery on January 29th and will start more chemo on March 6th but so far there doesn't seem to be any significant fluid in my abdomen.  I didn't have it around my lungs.

[Jatoo]

1. Hello. My wife's first buildup of ascites (a year ago)surrounding the liver was taken cared of by Doxil on the first treatment. Her CA 125 if I can remember it right went down from ~300 to ~36. DX OvCA 3C June 2005.

2. She needed paracentesis during the early part of January this year almost every week for two weeks. Her CA 125 went up from 8 to 500 around October to December 2006 while on Topotecan and then weekly Taxol. She's platinum-resistant, but her last Taxol was November of 2005 so it was more than a year ago when she had Taxol again and making Taxol weekly removes the resistance based on a clinical trial. Yet Topotecan and weekly Taxol did not help. She also developed peritonitis which was serious and was admitted to the emergency. It most probably was an infection from the weekly tapping.

3. It was only after using Avastin, which is famous for removing ascites, and Gemzar did the paracentesis stop and all ascites gone. Her CA 125 went down from ~500 to ~250 in just one treatment during the first week of January 2007. It is now down to 150 after one cycle and last week was even lower to 130.

4. The removal of ascites on two occasions disprove your Onc's theory that paracentesis will stop only after the CA 125 drops to 10. Remember CA 125 is just a marker and can vary from each individual. Of course it would be great if CA 125 drops below 35 but a scan also has to be clean. I think it depends on the efficacy of the chemo or drug working on the ascites produced by tumors. Dr. Goodman from the medical side of this forum believes that Avastin does the trick of removing ascites. You can see it on the archives.

Let's exchange prayers. I'll pray for you and please pray for my wife.

All the best,
Jatoo