mary colleen

So glad to meet you, and so glad that you found this message board. Though I'm very sorry that you have to deal with this diagnosis, I'll bet you'll soldier through and be helping others soon enough. Though I'm sure your world is not exactly filled with peers who can identify with your experience, I hope that your life is filled with good friends and family who can support you through this. Don't forget to browse the histories of the many advanced stage long term survivors on this board - I'll bet you you will be another one! Yell out here for help or info any old time you feel the need, and please keep us posted. My prayers are certainly with you.Remember that this certainly can all work out alright for you! mc

Teri, The following article from 6/2006 on the Medscape website indicates that the two regimens are pretty comparable in outcome. (I tried to do it as an attachment, but that was over my head!) NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Jun 16 - A combination of irinotecan and cisplatin (IP) appears to be as effective as etoposide and cisplatin (EP) in patients with previously untreated extensive small-cell lung cancer, according to US and Australian researchers. "The IP regimen, in the dose and schedule given in our study," lead investigator Dr. Nasser Hanna told Reuters Health, "demonstrated comparable activity to the EP regimen in terms of response rate, time to disease progression, and overall survival. Those in the IP arm had less neutropenia and neutropenic fever, but higher rates of diarrhea, nausea and vomiting." In the May 1st issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Dr. Hanna of Indiana University, Indianapolis and colleagues report on their study involving 221 patients who were randomized to IP and 110 who were randomized to receive EP. Side effects included neutropenia in 36.2% of IP patients versus 86.5% of those given EP. However, 21.3% of the IP patients had diarrhea versus none of the EP group. There was no significant difference in overall response (48% versus 43.6%), median time to progression or overall survival. Thus concluded Dr. Hanna, "either regimen should be considered an acceptable standard treatment for patients with extensive stage small cell lung cancer." In an accompanying editorial, Dr. Michael C. Perry of the University of Missouri, Columbia, agrees, noting that although there was greater hematologic toxicity with ER there was more gastrointestinal toxicity with IR. Other responses were similar.

Dr.West - I am just a relative newcomer here, but I appreciate your posting and providing us another informational link. From my standpoint, this is a tough diagnosis to navigate through, and requires all possible help. Though I feel that my husband has a very diligent and capable oncology/surgical/pulmonary team, I want to be as informed as possible in order to support him in his effort to get well. I personally welcome any and all help! Happy Thanksgiving!

"BAC" is Broncheoalveolar Carcinoma, and is a subset of Adenocarcinoma. Most of the medical literature on the targeted therapies (like Tarceva) suggests that BAC is more likely to be responsive to those meds than other types of LC are.

Gerald, I am kind of a newcomer to his as well. My husband (age 51) was diagnosed on 10/10/06. I understand how overwhelmed you must feel. I can say that we have now simply settled into viewing this situation as another fact of life to be dealt with. I hope that you do the same. I personally found it extremely comforting and helpful to look at many posts on this site (old and new) and see how many people are doing well, and simply living their lives in spite of their diagnosis. I have spent many hours researching medical journals as well, and and believe that study results for this disease in 5 years (based on folks diagnosed today) are going to show dramatic changes from past results - there are so many new tools and treatments coming of age right now. Best of luck, my thoughts are with you!

Jackie, I'm so sorry that you have to go through this. Your Mom really does look like a beautiful lady. I would definitely seek a second opinion - in this situation, it just seems like the responsible thing to do. You will see on this website that there are people diagnosed with advanced cancers that end up with long terms survivals and good quality of life. My thoughts are with you.

Teri, Please keep us posted regarding your husband's progress - I'll bet you feel you are in a new world entirely! I am right here with you, as are the others on this site. I am new to all of this as well, but the "vets" here have lots of great, practical, "been there/done that" info and encouragement. God Bless, and stay strong! MC

Stephanie, (welcome from a fellow recent newcomer.) I understand what you and your family are going through. You will find this website extremely helpful in terms of both support and information. One thing you will notice as you read old and new posts is that even in cases that receive very negative and scary diagnoses/ stagings, it is still more than possible to survive and to thrive. I will be thinking of you and your Dad. In the meantime, be strong and be positive, and know that you are not alone!

All of your information and good wishes are very helpful and much appreciated - thanks very much. My husband (Vic) had his first chemo on Thursday, and really didn't start to feel "off" until tonight. He's a bit achy and fatigued, which we expected. However, his vision became blurry early this evening, and has remained that way now for several hours. I see some literature references to this symptom, listing it as an uncommon side effect of Cisplatin (optic neuritis.)I intend to call the Oncology folks first thing in the morning to determine if this requires attention. Sharon, Don, Cindy - since you are old hands at simlilar chemo regimens - did any of you have this experience? Thanks:)

I appreciate all of your good input and information. My husbands only side effects thus far (48 hours post-chemo) are sleeplessness, which I would guess is the Decadron, and a severe case of intermittent hiccups! It looks like hiccups can be a side effect of Decadron or the chemo drugs. Annoying, but better than some side effects, I guess. Ned, I appreciate the info on how to do a profile - I'll get that done shortly!

I have been reading this site for a few weeks, and decided to register and post. I have looked at multiple similar sites on the web, and have found that nothing compares to this one in terms of community, information, activity and mutual support. My husband, age 51, was diagnosed just over a month ago with stage IIB NSLC. He had a bilobectomy on 10/10, and began chemo just yesterday. We are extremely fortunate that he is staged at IIB, rather than at a more advanced stage; he has had symptoms for at least 2 years, and was treated repeatedly for recurrent pneumonia and bronchitis. He changed primary care physicians in late August, and was diagnosed accurately shortly after that. His chemo will be Gemzar and Cisplatin - 2 weeks on, 1 week off, for 4 cycles. After that, he may join a clinical trial for Tarveca. Has anyone else gone through this particular chemo regimen? If so, I'd be interested in hearing about the side effects and so on. Please know that as I have read all of your posts over the last couple of weeks, I have come to admire and root for all of you. Thanks!