Returning to Tagrisso after suspending it

gkr87
Posts:1

Hello, my father was in Tagrisso for 9 weeks. His symptoms started to deteriorate particularly having shortness of breath (although his pain was much better) so doctors did a bronchoscopy and a CT Scan and found progression. He has been switched to chemotherapy. A second opinion mentioned that he should have gotten a PET Scan and that there was not sufficient evidence to eliminate Tagrisso. We had such high hopes for the medicine that we are now with thoughts about if we did what was correct and if he can return to Tagrisso at some point in the future. I would appreciate any knowledge on this matter. 

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JanineT GRACE …
Posts: 665
GRACE Community Outreach Team

Hi gkr,

 

Welcome to Grace.  I'm sorry I missed your post.  For some reason they are landing in my spam box.  I will address your concerns by the end of the evening. 

 

Janine

I joined GRACE as a caregiver for my husband who had a Pancoast tumor, NSCLC stage III in 2009. He had curative chemo/rads then it was believed he had a recurrence in the spine/oligometastasis that was radiated. He's 10 years out from treatment.

JanineT GRACE …
Posts: 665
GRACE Community Outreach Team

gkr,

 

I'm sorry your father and your family are going through this.  Cancer is an awful awful disease.  Worsening shortness of breath needs to be addressed asap.  It's likely the best move was to switch to chemo.  If tagrisso didn't work in first line treatment, it and other EGFR TKIs won't help later. 

 

On the other hand, if his spine mets showed improvement on the CT it was working on that tumor.  Tagrisso causes pneumonitis in about 2-4% of users, usually after several months but it has been known to happen shortly after starting tagrisso.  If it wasn't ruled out your father may want to speak to his onc about that possibility.   However, if your father's sob resolved without steroid treatment it surely wasn't pneumonitis.   Jim wrote in a previous post, "The recommended course of action after TKI-induced pneumonitis is permanent discontinuation of the TKI and initiation of corticosteroid treatment. There are carefully-chosen situations in which a rechallenge of the TKI may be considered. Typical factors leading to such a decision include resolution of symptoms, radiological evidence the ILD has cleared, rapid disease progression and a lack of viable alternative anti-cancer treatments. You can read about such a case here.

Certainly the first order of business is to get the ILD under control, then have a careful discussion with his oncologist about the risks and benefits of resuming Tagrisso vs. other options."  

 

On the upside people with an egfr mutation usually do very well with chemo.

 

I hope your father does well.  Please keep us posted.

Janine

I joined GRACE as a caregiver for my husband who had a Pancoast tumor, NSCLC stage III in 2009. He had curative chemo/rads then it was believed he had a recurrence in the spine/oligometastasis that was radiated. He's 10 years out from treatment.

Shivam Mishra
Posts: 7

Helllo, 

I want to know about the effectiveness of luciosim osimertinib which is a sri Lankan brand.

If anyone can give me some idea about it

I would be very very granteful

 

JanineT GRACE …
Posts: 665
GRACE Community Outreach Team

Hi Shivam Mishra,

 

Welcome to Grace. 

 

I don't have any personal information on the company.  This page from Lexology a legal newsfeed has a case report on the company Lucius v Pfizer stated, "The Government and the Drugs Controller’s office (Respondent No. 1 and 2) confirmed that Lucius’s drugs (Lucicriz – Crizotinib, Lucisun – Sunitinib, Luciax – Axitinib and Lucipalb – Palbociclib) are spurious and no permission for sale of the said drugs has been granted by the Central Drugs Standards Control Organization (CDSCO);"  The addresses given on the website are to residential houses. 

I would have to find positive info on the company to outweigh the bad info I've found so far. 

 

Is there anyone in your oncology dept that could give you information on best prices or know a pharma co for the drug?

 

The pharma co Beacon manufactures Tagrix, a generic Osimertinib is the only safe generic version I'm familiar with.  It's located in Bangladesh I believe. 

 

I hope you find the drug you can afford.

I wish you well,

Janine

 

I joined GRACE as a caregiver for my husband who had a Pancoast tumor, NSCLC stage III in 2009. He had curative chemo/rads then it was believed he had a recurrence in the spine/oligometastasis that was radiated. He's 10 years out from treatment.

In reply to by JanineT GRACE …

Shivam Mishra
Posts: 7

Thank you so much for the reply. 

I live in India. I want to know how tagrix can be procured in India and what would be the approximate cost of it? 

Can u share any of the contact details from where I can get the original tagrix? 

Pls reply

JanineT GRACE …
Posts: 665
GRACE Community Outreach Team

I'm sorry but I don't have that information. It's best to get it from your oncology dept or contact Beacon pharmacy directly, they should be able to answer your questions.

 

I hope you are able to get the drugs you need. 

 

Sincerely,

Janine

 

 

I joined GRACE as a caregiver for my husband who had a Pancoast tumor, NSCLC stage III in 2009. He had curative chemo/rads then it was believed he had a recurrence in the spine/oligometastasis that was radiated. He's 10 years out from treatment.