Tarceva (Erlotinib) and fevers and lower doses? - 1265236

Please Note: New Treatments Have Emerged Since this Original Post

Hi all, My mom was diagnosed with stage 4 NSCLC, adenocarcinoma, EGFR mutation in March 2014. She is 73 years old and of mid-east descent. She has never smoked. The CT/PET scans showed a large tumour (>5cm) in one lung, and many small tumours in both lungs. Also, the cancer had spread to two lymph nodes in her chest. No cancer was detected in brain scans. She was prescribed 150mg Tarceva as first-line treatment and developed very bad rashes on her face, head, chest and mouth sores soon after starting treatment. After 2 weeks on Tarceva she developed a fever that would go up and down from around 37.7 degrees to 40 degrees as well as chills. Her mouth sores became much worse and she developed rashes on both legs. She was extremely weak, could not walk (bed-ridden), and could barely eat. She was taken to the hospital twice during that period, and the doctors could not find signs of bacterial infection after taking blood and urine samples. My strong feeling is that the Tarceva was the cause of the high fevers, though her oncologist said that fevers are not normally associated with Tarceva. She was given IV antibiotics in the hospital and prescribed oral antibiotics and simulatenously was removed from Tarceva. After 2 days her fevers subsided and she is presently finishing her 10 days of antibiotics. We have an appointment with her oncologist in a few days and I was hoping to hear from other peoples' experience or faculty advice. Have others experienced fevers and chills with Tarceva? Did moving to lower doses reduce the side-effects (and fevers?) ? What dose would be recommended for her once she restarts the Tarceva? 75mg? Half dose every day? Full dose (150mg) every other day? Has anyone who could not tolerate Tarceva (even at lower doses) been able to tolerate Gefitnib? Thanks for any help you can offer!