Post Lung Cancer Surgery Radiation , Chemo and possibly Tarceva - 1274413

stevea
Posts:18

My Wife , 49 years old , diagnosed 4/1/16 with Lung Cancer , Squamous, originally they thought she was a stage 3a due to possible lymph node involvement. She underwent a bi-lobectomy of her right upper and middle lobes on 6/2/16 and she was re staged to a 2b due to no lymph node involvement. After the surgery the surgeon explained to us that she was going to need radiation due to some positive margins. We met with her Oncologist and they scheduled her for a Chemo / Radiation regimen. Then he said that she tested positive for the EGFR mutation and they were considering putting her on Tarceva after she is done with the Chemo / Radiation. From what I have read the EGFR mutation seems to be rare in Squamous Cell and I can't really find to much where Tarceva is used in Squamous . Is there a standard protocol for Tarceva use in Squamous ?
Thanks

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Reply # - June 17, 2016, 06:21 PM

catdander
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Hi stevea,

While it's rare to have an EGFR mutation with squamous nsclc it absolutely happens and a tki like tarceva is as likely to be as effective as if it were an adeno nsclc but that's "only if" it's stage IV nsclc.
It doesn't mean that tarceva would be better than doing nothing after surgical resection and adjuvant chemo/radiation it could actually turn out to be harmful. There's a balancing act with how much is too much and that is safest when done with researcher/oncologists and the teams that take extraordinary steps to keep people as safe as possible.

These types of questions are being asked and answered in clinical trials. But we don't have enough data to say what to expect by adding more.
I only know of trials that are comparing tarceva to chemo but none that add tarceva on to chemo/rads which is already an almost too toxic.

There's a balancing act with how much is too much and that is safest when done with researcher/oncologists and the teams that take extraordinary steps to keep people as safe as possible.

I hope your wife is cured and does very well moving forward.

All best,
Janine

Reply # - June 18, 2016, 12:12 AM

stevea
Posts: 18

Janine

Thanks for the reply. These treatment decisions are coming up faster then we can keep up. We were happy that my wife had the EGFR mutation as it gives us another treatment option down the road but we were surprised when they said they were thinking about giving her Tarceva after Chemo / Radiation as i havent seen anything online where it was used that way. We are definitely going to ask lots of questions at her next appointment.

Steve

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