Chemo for recurrence drugs

[msjazz]

I was diagnosed  May 06, 4 ip cisplatin, 4 iv carbo/taxol. Remission 7 months, carbo/gamzar 3 rds, switched to cytoxan/gemzar have had 2 rds. I see from others that actually I am doing better so far with chemo. but I am already worrying about running out.All these dr.s say they have all these combos, but it seems I see people saying they are running out that haven't had cancer any longer than me. If I ask my dr. its" I have a whole bag of tricks", and that " if I think negative I will have a negative response" I have only kmown about most of these other chemos from you on here. We started a chemo page, but it is short. If anyone would and has time I would like to know any recurrence chemos you have had . I know about gemzar, doxil, taxotere, topotecan,avastin, and the reuse of carbo/taxol( if time frame is right.) But what are these other things the dr acts like there are, if not in a clinical trial?  Just checking if you have had something different .I was on cancer websites last night and seemed to get the opinion they thought a combo was better than a single agent, but that makes the list shorter. I have wondered if that is why my dr. swictched me to cytoxan, it is in the carbo family.         Thanks  Donna

[msjazz]

Thanks girls.  I have only had  gemzar,carbo.cytoxan, but it seems you all are going thru these so fast. My ca125 creeped up 10 pts before my last treatment, I go Wed. and I am worried it might have gone up again, and I know the pattern this gets going on. I wish we could have some peace from this and not worry about chemo or ca125 or what this or that pain could be...... Donna

[Helmar]

There are some oral chemos too... Femara, Tamoxifen to name a couple. Whether they work or not is another question. In my case neither did work, but they gave me a break off the harsh chemos. I've been doing chemos since Feb. '04 and have had most of those 'going around'. I'm on Caelyx(Doxil) at the present time. I did have this one a couple of years ago, and it worked for me then... just have to hope it does this time too. There is one called Phenoxodiol which, from what I hear, has had some good results,and I think they are currently doing Phase 3 trials at the moment.
I wish you all the best. I'm sure you will be going on for many years to come. :-)
Hugs...Helen..

[Brownie3321]

I will be having a stem cell transplant to be able to withstand the 5 different chemo drugs they will be giving me in one large dose! My mind is escaping me right now, but I do know 3 of them were not the usual recurrence drugs. I will let you know how it goes. Best of luck Deandra

[crecco]

  Donna,
    That s a real good question. I asked my onc a similar question awhile back. I wanted to know what would happen if i became chemo resistant, or ran out of options. His exact words were, "oh, there's hundreds of durgs out there if we need them"
  so why haven't I heard of them. I have already been on most of them that I have ever heard of in just 2 1/2 years. Carbo/taxol, Doxil, Gemzar, Topotecan, and now Avastin/Abraxane. I am putting as lot of faith in my Dr that he knows what he is talking about, cause it sure makes me wonder.
  As far as exactly what kind of ov ca i have, you know I really don't know. If they told me it was right at first when I was still in shock mode and i don't remember. All I recall is that the Dr who dx me, told me it was a very aggressive cancer and needed to be treated aggressively. I will have to try and remember to ask my onc next week.
       Chris

[msjazz]

It is the reg. 80 % serous papillary adenocarcinoma but it was on pathology primary peritoneal. But it supposedly comes from ovary and treated same. It was moderately differentiated ( maybe that is meduim growing rate?) she has 3c  N1 Mo  on report whatever N1 Mo is. I am going to put these surgery reports up before I start trying to figure that out.

[Tybear]

It's tough because depending on what type of ovarian cancer you have, your options may be less than others. I have MPSC, a type of ov/ca that is slow growing, therefore does not respond well to typical chemotherapy agents. I am trying Avastin as it's not actually a type of chemo, but rather a drug that can prevent the development of new blood vessels. My next choice would probably be an estrogen blocker, as I know my type of cancer is totally estrogen driven. Have you asked your doctor about what kind of role estrogen plays in your cancer?
There are lot's of drugs out there, but some just work better for certain "types" of ovarian cancer than others.
Good luck!
Becky

[msjazz]

I was given arimidex when I finished the first time, because I was estrogen receptive. I only  took it about a month and it caused bone pain, my dr. said it probably would. I quit taking it because I didn't think it could do much. I regret it now, it might have kept the ca125 down. If I am lucky enough to get a remission I will take one of those ( I think femara and tamoxifen are similiar. ) It was better than chemo for sure. Thanks

[nyc lady]

There are a couple of women on this board (Jatoos wife and Freshair) that were having some positive results with "old" chemos....5FU and something else.  
There are also all the estrogen blocker type drugs like Femera, Arimdex etc that have also helped people not be disease free by stable...I know someone over 7 years on Arimidex, stage 3C, high CA125 but no growth of the tumors she has...that is 7 years.

I remember years ago someone saying to my Uncle when he was diagnosed with liver cancer, attitude and positive thinking is a huge part of recovery.  

I meet someone stage 3C the other night at an Ovarian Cancer awareness function she is 6 years out and her attitude is "who's to say I am not the one to beat this".

BUT....I also understand that sometimes it gets you down and  you get tired.

We are here to help as much as we can.

Pam