Here’s the skinny
The trip to the Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center was somewhat anticlimactic. I met with Dr. Ramanathan (and Dr. Von Hoff) this morning in the hopes that they would have some great insight into a treatment that my oncologist (Dr. Kauh) might not have considered. As I wrote yesterday, Dr. Von Hoff had talked (on Saturday) about how successful the gemcitabine / Abraxane combination was in reducing the number of tumors in pancreatic cancer patients. It sounded great! Unfortunately, talking with Dr. Ramanathan today we agreed that I am not a good candidate for this treatment. For those of you who have been reading for a while, you know that I did not respond well to gemcitabine during my post surgery chemo (my white blood cell counts plummeted to critical levels on the normal gemcitabine regimen). On top of that, according to Dr. Ramanathan, there is only preliminary evidence that the combo is effective on initial tumors (and no real evidence that it is effective on recurrent tumors).
The folks here in AZ are going to request some of the tissue samples from the tumor removed during my surgery (my recurrent tumor is buried deep in my chest and the risks outweigh the benefits of trying to do a biopsy on me right now). They are going to do some molecular genetic testing on my samples to try and identify specific targets in MY pancreatic cancer that might be amenable to specific additional chemotherapies. So there is a plan in place to try and adjust my treatment so that it is maximally effective. Hopefully, we’ll hear something from them toward the end of this year (beginning of next year). Until then, I’ll stick to taking the Xeloda and dealing with the neuropathy in my fingers and feet.
So, no miracle. I’m stuck with my slow growing, lazy tumor and hopes that the Xeloda helps keep it slow growing. I meet with Dr. Kauh on Thursday to talk about my visit. Interesting fact, Dr. Kauh is part of the pancreatic cancer research team headed by Dr. Von Hoff, so Dr. Ramanathan knows Dr. Kauh and was going to call him and update Dr. Kauh about their (the AZ folks) ideas for my treatment. Also on Thursday, I will be meeting with Dr. Landry (my radiation oncologist) to talk about the possibility of some very targeted radiation therapy (like cyberknife). On Friday, I meet with Dr. Bias-Smith, who is the head of the pain management team to see about getting another nerve block for my pain and then on Saturday, the family and I travel up to NJ for Hamburger Hannukah. Other than that, we have nothing going on this week.
More later.
Merle
Hi Merle,
Be safe on your travels to NJ and I wish you a Happy Hamburger Hanukkah…let’s try to get together before the end of the year! joann
Hi Merle,
I’ve been thinking about you and thought I’d check online to find out what’s going on with your situation. Sounds like you have an excellent, dedicated team in place to work with you to attack this thing. The genetic testing piece sounds fascinating. Thanks for sharing your journey with us.
My best,
Debra
Hope you had a fabulous Hanukkah. Just seeing there’s a new tumor…your body is kinda ticking me off! I wish the folks in AZ had more studies for you. My oncologist has several clinical trials, but because I had multiple tumors I wasn’t a candidate. We’ve moved on to radiation on this end–4 down, 29 to go! Wishing you a HEALTHIER 2011, Mr. Hamburger.