annie1129

Thanks a lot for ur reply.

Karen, thanks for ur reply. I sent u a PM yesterday. Pls check. If u hvn't received it, pls let me know.

I've posted this in "Ask the Expert" forum before; however, no response has yet received but I do urgently need advices/experience shared by other people. My father is having WBR (2 times per day for 5 consecutive days; total 5 weeks) + temodar (140mg per day) Treatment will be completed next week. However, we got 2 different opinions from 2 oncs for coming treatment. One is - take the temodar for 5 consecutive days (300mg per day) then rest for 23 days, which represent one cycle. Total 5 cycles. Another is - no need to take temodar again as the onc thinks it only helps getting a better result when having the radiation. but it's useless if taking it alone for brain mets. If anyone hv similar experience or advices, please share. Thanks very much.

my father has taken Iressa for 7 months. In the 1st 3 months - very minimal side effect - some rash on face only In the subsequent 3 months - very very itchy skin on the upper body this month - itchy skin gone, mild rash on face

My father's onc said this morning that he may stop Iressa for my father 6 months later. (My father started it 6 months ago) He said Iressa probably stable the disease for 6-9 months, and so don't suggest him to take it for too long time. I'm hving doubt about that as my father is doing pretty well on Iressa, and many of u said should stay on it as long as it controls the disease. He is stage 3/4 but is NED since Mar 2004. What's ur comment??? Any of ur onc suggest the same as my father's onc???

Could anyone tell me the meaning of "95% CI, 28.8-31.1"??? Data presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 40th Annual Meeting NEW ORLEANS, June 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Final data from more than 21,000 non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients who received the oral cancer drug IRESSA® (gefitinib) through AstraZeneca's pre-approval expanded access program (EAP) in the United States were presented today at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting. The one-year survival rate in patients treated with IRESSA on a compassionate basis was reported as 29.9%. This data set represents the largest reporting to date of clinical use of an agent in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) class. The IRESSA EAP was initiated to allow access to the drug while it was pending U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval. The program ran from August 2000 to July 2003 in the United States and enrolled 23,383 advanced (stage III/IV) non-small-cell lung cancer patients who had exhausted all approved treatment options or were unable to tolerate chemotherapy. "Because the EAP enabled the use of IRESSA outside of a formal clinical trial setting, it provides a unique look at patient impact in a true clinical setting," said Judith Ochs M.D., Senior Medical Director, AstraZeneca LP, lead author of the study. The data presented followed 21,064 patients who received greater than or equal to 1 dose of IRESSA. Patient demographics included 9,979 women and 11,040 men. Median age was 67 years and 72.7% of patients had stage IV disease. Median survival was 5.3 months (95% CI, 5.1 - 5.5 mo) and 1-year survival was 29.9% (95% CI, 28.8 - 31.1). Duration of therapy and survival were measured from the start of initial therapy to the last resupply date for ongoing patients or the date of last dose for withdrawn patients. For surviving patients who withdrew, periodic follow-up data were not collected, and patients were censored for survival at withdrawal until death was reported. In the EAP 2.3% of patients reported a serious treatment-related adverse (AE) event; 1.1% discontinued therapy due to a serious drug-related AE, and 0.3% had an investigator-assessed, drug-related death.

My great sympathy for u and ur family. Your father is in peace now. He is a kind man, and he will be proud of u definitely.

Hope ur family hv a wonderful day.

after 3 round of chemo, my father's tumor was stable. (no shrinkage or growth) then, my father had radiation (2 times a day) + low dose chemo for 5 weeks - 70% shrinkage now, hving iressa to keep him stable. so, i think radiation + low dose chemo works well on my father.

i've attended a seminar last year, and the onc showed us some pet scan films of a patient with at least 10x bone met (before vs after taking IRESSA). The result was very good that many of his cancer spots disappeared after taking IRESSA. so, I don't think and don't want IRESSA not work well on bone-met patients.

i just don't know what to say...... it's reality and we hv no choice...... our father are our most beloved one, so we can't leave him alone. hang in there and take care of urselves......

Thanks or sharing. It's really a very very great story. My father is hving Iressa for near 2 months. But doctor said it is too early to say whether it works or not. Hope my father is the lucky one. Could u email me the article as I'm not US resident. Thanks so much. annie1129@kittymail.com

good...good...good... Happy Chinese New Year!!!

i'm so sorry to hear that. definitely, it is a very very hard time for u and ur family. if u want anyone to talk to, pls call me anytime.