My wife was diagnosed with stage IVM1a lung cancer in March 2011. The cancer had spread to the pleura and was discovered through an MRI that found about 1 liter of fluid in her right chest cavity. A Pet scan showed multiple tumors on the right lung and cancer cells metabolic activity in the pleura. I talked t Dr.'s from Harvard, Yale, and Hopkins. I was told that she needed a miracle to survive.
I insisted that she take Tarceva while we were waiting for the mutation test results and for her to be able to receive chemo. The mutation test was not positive, so she was not a candidate for Tarceva, although she did get some minor benefit from it. It had some bad side effects, such as a rash, constipation, and nausea. After 10 to 14 days on Tarceva, she stopped and started chemo shortly thereafter.
The chemo consisted of cisplatin, avastin, and alimpta. Three weeks after the second chemo treatment (six weeks after chemo started) she had another PETscan. There were no active tumors and slight activity in the pleura. Her oncologist called it miraculous. She has finished her fourth chemo and will get another PETscan in 3 weeks. The Dr. expects that she will most likely be in remission.
While she has not been declared in remission, the results from the first two chemo treatments is miraculous. The difference in her treatment from most is the Tarceva first. Most people don't do this unless they get a positive mutation test result because insurance does not usually pay for it as a first treatment. Each pill is about $200 in the US so two weeks worth is $2800. Considering that my wife needed a miracle, I did not want to leave any stone unturned so the cost was worth it to me.
We don't know if the Tarceva made the difference or not because there is no research we could find on using Tarceva this way. I wanted to put this out for others to consider.
