Hello and thank you for entertaining my question.
For Stage IV NSCLC with alk,kras, and egfr neg I have been treated sequentially with
Line 1 - Cisplatin/Alimta/Avastin - Initial success then progression
Line 2 Alimta/Avastin maintenance -- progression
Line 3 Mpdl3280A Immunotherapy clinical trial -- straight progression through two cycles
Line 4 Docetaxel combined with Cyramza slower but st
Line 5 Cometriq for RET mutation Nothing but progression
Line 6 Sutent ' ' Even more aggressive progression in size of all tumors
I am now at a decision point of taking either Tarceva, Ibrance, or shifting towards simply palliative and supportive care for my remaining 4-6 months.
I am trying to educate myself on success rates and side effects of both of these drugs Tarceva and Ibrance when used for NSCLC with EGFR wild-type. Not much has been found on the latter thus far.
Any help would be appreciated. I need to hit a winner soon or my body will be running out of time, the dilemma is quality of life with my family for my last few months versus a bloody fight to the finish.
Anyone been there, done that?
Reply # - April 15, 2015, 08:03 AM
Hi Steve,
Hi Steve,
Welcome to GRACE. I'm sorry that you are facing these difficult decisions. When lung cancer progresses through several standard chemo agents, it is unlikely to respond to another. As a result, if further treatment is sought, the recommendation is usually to try a therapy that works in a different manner.
Tarceva is such a drug, and can be effective as a subsequent line of treatment in the absence of an EGFR mutation, albeit less so than for EGFR-positive patients. Dr. West discusses this here: http://cancergrace.org/lung/2010/09/21/benefit-from-egfr-tki-if-egfr-wt/ Tarceva doesn't halve many of the side effects of standard chemo, although some patients have a tough time with skin and diarrhea issues.
Ibrance is just beginning to be tested in lung cancer clinical trials, so it doesn't have much of a track record yet.
JimC
Forum moderator