Hi there, I wanted to ask if any consideration is being given to differing crizotinib dosages for different patient populations as I believe asians absorb more of the drug tha non Asian patients .
I also wanted to ask if there is any merit in switching patients from crizotinib to the still in trial chugai drug or lDK 378 as these penetrate the blood brain barrier better I Believe, is it the case that though this would be better for patients it is not possible as they are still in trial?
I am alk positive and on crizotinib for 7 months now complete response and recent brain scan clear, I was diagnosed in February this year and had crizotinib as my very first treatment, I am thrilled to be on target treatment and feeling so well! I am a 49 year old never smoker mum and office worker in the uk . Thank you x
Reply # - September 23, 2013, 07:30 AM
Reply To: Crizotinib and second generation alk lung cancer drugs
Alicia,
Congratulations on the great response to Crizotinib! I can't really see the merit in switching from a well-tolerated drug that has worked so well for you and and is well-tested to an investigational therapy that is still in the trial process. And if it's not an approved drug, usually the only way to get it would be in a clinical trial.
Continued good success with your treatment!
JimC
Forum moderator
Reply # - September 23, 2013, 08:01 PM
Reply To: Crizotinib and second generation alk lung cancer drugs
Switching away from crizotinib to an investigational agent certainly isn't a studied or advocated approach. One issue is that crizotinib is typically very well tolerated, while LDK-378 at the dosing moving forward can be quite a bit more challenging. Also, there's no reason to think it's better to switch to a second generation ALK inhibitor earlier than the time of acquired resistance to crizotinib, given that the response rate after crizotinib is as good as the response rate for crizotinib-naive patients.
Good luck.
-Dr. West
Reply # - September 24, 2013, 02:16 PM
Reply To: Crizotinib and second generation alk lung cancer drugs
Thanks for that extra information Dr West, sometime after I started crizotinib. I read that it did not penetrate the brain so well, and since that I have been concerned about brain metastisis occurring, however I suppose I just have to accept this possibility. Alicia