agnieszka1975
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Posts:8
Dear All,
My mother suffering from the NSCLC EGFR has just received labolatory test outcome, it states that she has three abnormalities:
blood sodium 132 (last month 136)
blood suger 114 (last month 115)
bilirubin 1,8 (last month 1,5)
She's been taking Tarceva for 2 months and we are extremely happy as her tumor has shrunk from 20x20 mm to 7x16 mm and the lymph nodes are clear. The only thing the bothers me is the level of bilirubin, should we worry about it?
I would be very grateful for advice.
Best regards and Merry Christmas!
Agnieszka
Forums
Reply # - December 23, 2013, 09:49 AM
Reply To: Bilirubin 1,8 – should we worry?
Agnieszka, Merry Christmas!
I did a quick search for bilirubin on Grace and came up with very similar questions. The quote from Dr. Johnson below is one of several comments in that thread I think will help answer your question.
"Tarceva can affect the liver's function and may well be the cause for the slightly elevated bilirubin. However, it's hard for us to know without knowing your mom's "baseline" numbers, not to mention the other medications she's taking if the Tarceva is truly to blame, or something else?
"Certainly the labs show a few numbers that are a bit out of the normal range, and a call/visit to your oncologist will help straighten it out." http://cancergrace.org/forums/index.php?topic=10570.0
I hope this helps and I hope you have a good holiday season.
Janine
Reply # - December 23, 2013, 09:56 PM
Reply To: Bilirubin 1,8 – should we worry?
Those numbers are all extremely similar from month to month. The bilirubin is not far off from the upper limit of the normal range, and the rise since last time it was checked is not great. However, we can never say there is no need to worry, even if the numbers were all normal (legally, that would be irresponsible of us). Her oncologist will always be a more definitive source of information about her case.
Good luck.
-Dr. West
Reply # - December 26, 2013, 10:45 AM
Reply To: Bilirubin 1,8 – should we worry?
Dear Janine, Dear Dr West,
Thank you so much for the links and information. We always consult the outcomes with our hospital, but I have recently found out that at the moment they have only one patient on Tarceva, my mom. I have a feeling that due to the small number of patients taking this drug they don't have enough experience. That's why I am extremely grateful for any advices/information given on cancergrace.org.
best regards
Agnieszka