Xeloda – anyone taking or have knowledge of?

[Surveyor]

As you can see by my profile below, I’m going to resume radiation treatment in January, ’06. The doctor said he would also prescribe Xeloda. He said it has minor side effects in most people and radiation actually enhances the anticancer medicine.

I’ve noticed mostly positive comments on earlier Xeloda posts. Bphyllis spoke highly of Xeloda, but said, “it works well for women but not men for some reason.” Anyone know why this maybe so? Have any men had positive results?

The active ingredient in Xeloda is capecitabine. It’s a tablet that was approved by the FDA in 1998. Primarily used for colorectal or breast cancer. I read that in a bladder cancer trial (mostly a disease of older men and it said ½ of patients were over 80) treatment with Xeloda and radiation therapy resulted in a complete disappearance of detectable cancer in the majority of patients (11 out of 13). Of the 11 patients who had no detectable cancer after treatment, eight survived without cancer recurrence during the roughly 10 months of follow-up. The most common adverse effects of treatment were fatigue, diarrhea, and dehydration. Three patients had to be hospitalized because of adverse effects of treatment.

Thank you for any help or thoughts.

[Leslie221]

I'm not familiar with this med. But it sounds really promising. Hope it will do the trick for you. Keep us posted - you may well end up being our "expert."

Leslie

[Jyoung20]

I'm not familiar with it either. I sure hope it works for you!!!

GOD BLESS!!!

Jamie

[francesbean]

I hope Xeloda will work wonders for you. Happy holidays!

[J.C.]

First, have a Happy Christmas and a good 2006.

Xeloda, target cancer cells and spare normal tissue.

You have to watch for some side effects from it

and often the strength of the medication is reduced.

1- tingling, numbess, pain, redness in the palms

of the hands and soles of the feet, be extra

careful with your feet, watching for sores.

2- if more than four bowel movements a day, you

should drink electrolyte to prevent dehydratation.

You should contact your doctor if the sides effects

are too hard on you, the strength of the medication

could be reduced.

Two of my friends are on Xeloda and as they knew

about the side effects were able to watch and

catch them at the start and are good results

from the treatment.

Good luck.

Jackie

[RandyW]

HAve You tried to google this treatment Xeloda? This Might give you some info. Also try Chemotherapy.com. Seems to be a good link / source. Best wishes for a Happy Holiday and A better New Year.