Topotgan

My wife Violet is on her 4th reoccurance, her CA rose from 250, when she decided she needed a break, had last chemo in April 2006, to now 2450, the PET scan showed activity in the lymphatic system, neck, pelvis, but not attached to any organs, so her Oc is happy. She now on topotican, any one else on this, if so, what/hopw you getting on. After her 2nd dose of 5, she feels a lot better, and on physical tests, the lympth nodes are 'getting softer and smaller. Tks ladies, Thoughts with you all. Steve

[Helmar]

Hi Steve....Sorry to hear that your wife is going through the recurrence, but it seems that it's part of this lousy disease. Steve... Could I ask you, as I've just been dx with a cancerous lymph node too, did your wife's Oncol. suggest Topotecan as being the best to combat this. I see my Oncol. tomorrow, so I'm trying to find out as much as I can now. My affected node is in the left groin area... which my Surgeon said, isn't a normal course for Ovarian cancer to take. Trust me to be different. :-)
Was your wife given any prognosis now that her lymph nodes are involved? Thanks for any input. Much appreciated...

[nyc lady]

A friend of mine was just put on topecan (sp?) for her 3rd recurrence, she has not been stable in about a year.  She has gone thru 2 treatments, and just complains of tiredness thus far.

She has been on taxol/carbo, gemzar, doxil, femara, single agent carboplatin and there was another that I do not remember.

To the best of our knowledge, there is no lymph node involvement.  Just a smattering of specs througout her pelvic region.

Good luck to you both.

[kathy o]

HI Steve,
I am glad that Vi had some time off from the chemos.. Sorry to hear it came back so strong. I hope that this works for her and she can get some more time off from chemo in the future.
kathy

[Helmar]

G'day Steve....Just wanted to tell you that my Oncol. is starting me on Topotecan this coming Monday. I hope it works. I've had heaps of stuff too... something similar to your wife. The Gemzar was the worst for me.. needed infustions for low platelets and red cells... but no gain. Useless stuff. I did o.k. with the Taxotere/Carboplatin to start with, but now the platins don't work anymore. Like your wife Steve, I've only had about 9 months without chemo since dx in Feb.04. This is one b***ch of a disease for sure. How is your wife doing with the Topo now? Gee, I hope it works for her. What doseage? I'm on 2mg each day for 5 days, then once a month. Hope it's strong enough. *laugh*... Anyhow, it's good to meet, and chat. Say G'day to your wife from me too... Helmar...

[Mobydick]

Tks for all thoughts and comments, as to lympth nodes, as said thios is her 4th reoccurance, each time it has only ever effected the lympth nodes. Her 1st re she has taxol/carbo as it was almost 3 years since diagnosed, then a 9 month remission, statred taxotare, it worked for 3 cycles the he counts went crazy from 40 to 4000 in 2 weeks, she was switched to gemzar, that was hard on her, although count dropped to 34 on the 4 session, statr slowly rising and then dropping again, she had a total of 12 sessions, then she wanted a break, so thats we are now. Steve

[Mobydick]

Nice talking to you also, I have a few ladies and hubbies now talking through this and other sites, also on direct email steve.***@****  Vi is on, to start with 1.7grams as her Oc wanted to know how she reacted to it, it will be increased next time. She is on 5 days then repeated after 21 days. She, todate has had no realy after effects, all nausia was contolled by tablets, we noticed that it was working after the 1st  of the 5 day session, the swelling of the nodes in her neck have reduced considerably. Good luck with your treatment, keep in touch. Steve

[Helmar]

G'day again Steve.... That's great news that the Topotecan seems to be working for Vi. I hope she continues to do well on this. I'm not looking forward to more chemo, but we don't have a choice. So far, I've been lucky in being able to get by without anti'nausea pills.... I just snack all day for a couple of days, and that seems to get me by. Anyhow Steve, give Vi my best wishes and I'll let you know how it goes for me this coming week. Have a good weekend there.... Helmar...