Carbo/Taxol versus Clinical Trial?

[Guest cheri]

First of all, thank you for being so kind in welcoming me to this wonderful group of people. I look forward to getting to know you all.

As I stated in my introduction, my father was diagnosed with NSCLC last month. He has had 13 radiation treatments to his back to alleviate pain and hopefully shrink the tumors. Our oncologist recommended Carbo/Taxol to begin 3 weeks after his radiation ended. He said that all they would do at this point would be "palliative care" and pain management. That's why I ended up doing so much research on my own b/c "palliative care" is not good enough for me nor my father. We are fighters and will fight this to the end. I agree with all of you, #'s of months left don't mean a thing. I just wish the MD never said it.

I found out about some clinical trials and pushed the MD into referring us. My father went to UAB (about 3.5 hours away) and has been accepted to begin a Phase I trial on Feb. 4 where he will begin Carbo/Taxol/ABX-EGF. ABX-EGF is a new drug manufactured by Amginex. My question is this... Should we try standard chemo first? Should we try Iressa first? Or, should we start with a clinical trial first before trying anything else? Does it really matter?

Any advice and/or input would be greatly appreciated.

Cheri

[TheresaKB]

Hello,

I am sure people on this board will correct me if I am wrong, but my perception is that having previous chemo treatments lessen one's chances of getting into clinical trials. Please don't let this influence your decision as I am sure lots more board members have a lot to share with you.

Theresa

[Ry]

Each trial has a certain protocol of who is eligible. Your dad may not be elgible for the trial if he does the other treatments first, you need to check. I would not try Iressa first, but later if the other things don't work (just my opinion). Good luck

[dadstimeon]

Hi Cheri,

Sorry to hear about your father and welcome. I would do the one that I could get the best results from. See my signature on my results to date. Your doctor should be able to guide you there. Although no one really knows until we try them. Iressaa is in pill form, taken once a day. Just started so to soon to tell about side effects. Lots of people have had great success (Iressa) on that when it works. Ry's husband comes to mind. But it’s really an individual choice. I’m also being treated for palliative care. I don’t look at it that way. I just do whatever it takes. Lets keep going until I glow, that’s my motto. As far as how long. Who knows. I'll speak only for myself I'd rather know where I stand with my disease. It makes me even more determined to battle it. But that's just my way of doing it. Not saying it's easy mind you, because it's not. Do have to make life style changes for sure. Have to accept things are going to be forever different. But you adjust as you go along. It's not going to beat me, I'm going to beat it. I’m coming up on 2 years in May. Plan on being around for a long time. There are still some people I like to annoy in my life. Stay positive. Research, research and keep researching. Be pro-active and never give up. Lots of options to try. Get a second opinion when not sure. Be there every step of the way for your father. Lots of laughter also helps. Stay with us. Lots of great people, with tons on information, support and caring. Hope this helps. Peace, take care and God Bless.

Rich

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[kimblanchard]

Cheri,

My mother's first chemo was carbo/taxol. Her Dr. was against clinical trials (especially to begin with) because he said that they usually only benefit the drug companies who are looking to see what the drug will do. But I don't know...there are people who have benefited from them. Also my mother probably wouldn't have been eligible for many because of her Stage IV.

Kim