Xeloda & oxaliplatin, ?? Y90

Fatema:
I think it all depends on the patient. Each person has different results with similar chemos, unfortunately.
I was on GemOx and it worked wonders for me. From what I've read Oxaliplatin and Cisplatin are the 2 main chemos for this disease. They mix with different other chemos for cocktails and sometimes they work great... sometimes they have to change the chemo treatments.
I hope the new cocktail works wonders for your mother.
Kris

Hi,
Can you quote the impression part of the CAT scan report for me to know more about the details.?
Are they rule out the combination tumor type of HCC-ICC?
It does not make sense for  ICC to have AFP that high.
god bless.

Hi,

According to the article " Liver and bile duct cancer " by Amal Samy Ibrahim, between 1999-2001 , there were  345 patients microscopically confirmed to have liver and bile duct cancer; 61 were female patients; out of that 61 pts, 80.3%  had  liver cancer and   only 11.5% were dx as cholangiocarcinoma.
In short, there are almost 8x of  more chances having  HCC than ICC especially in FEMALE patient in Egypt.unless this study is out of date.
I think the  combination of HCC-ICC is worth a second look based on the above stats  and the abnormal  AFP values unless chronic infection with HBV or HCV or aflatoxin contamination of food products can be ruled out.(this is purely my guess only and could be of no significance at all).
HCC is more chemo resistant ; but time has been change. I think when they do that studies,a lot of those targeted agents are still in infancy and thus may not include in the equation.
The increase of CA19-9 may be related to "*The associated mild segmental intrahepatic biliary dilatation noted around the main mass."
THE report is  a bit different than the ones used in US, I want to see the tumor relationship related to its surrounding (ie vascular infiltration or just intraductal )

After almost 4 cycles of Xeloda(1500mg BID, 14days on/7days off as one cycle) that I am on now,
Hand-foot syndrome(redness and  minor peeling of the skin on the palms of hands=2/10-on the scale of 1-10,10 being the worst));
fatique(=6/10);   diarrhea=2-3 times/day(grade 1);
decrease in neutrophil(=2/10); increase lymphocyte(=1/10);
minor decrease in serium potassium and magnesium(=2/10)
minor increase in Bil.total=0.4(0.2-1) from 0.3.
Oncologist suggested to reduce the dose to 1000mg BID starting next cycle.
Relatively speaking, I tolerate the Xeloda mono therapy well.

CAPOX(capecitabine+oxaliplatin) : (1000mg/m2  BID Xeloda  on day 1-14 + 130mg/m2  over an hour  oxaliplatin  on day 1),in one study had a overall response rate of 16% and  a substantial number of patients had prolonged periods of STABLE disease. survival was not reported.
In another study,CAPOX treatment was well tolerated with only mild hematologic toxicity,grade 3 and 4 peripheral neuropathy. however,for unknown reasons, more favorable results were noted in the extrahepatic CCA group than intrahepatic CCA group.There were no complete or partial response for the ICCA group as compare to 2 complete and 8 partial responses in the ECCA group.(pts pop=65 )-   review of systemic therapy of CCA ,uptodate.com.
Ask the oncologist why he or she want to change to CAPOX .What is his logical approach for using this regimen which seems favorable more to ECCA than ICCA that you mom has.
Base on what I can understand;the best option for your mom at this point may be radioembo with Y90 (using glass particles);and if so, make sure you ask whether there is a waiting  period between switching treatment .
Interventional radiologist consult is highly recommended . Fatique is the major adverse reaction for the radioembolization with y 90.that may last for a week or two.Please read Rick.Kamp's experience on this board for week by week reports; mostly fatigue is the problem.(just type his name under the user list choose member and click his entry, start around message 43.)
Actually Radioembo with Y90 glass particles is recommended to me by a famed hepatologist  recently on my 2nd opinion consultation for the future just in case .  He also recommended sorafenib as targeted therapy for future consideration for my ICCA recurrence if it will  be happened again.
I hope the above information helps.

BTW, how's the overall health condition of your mom compare to  the pre-treatment level; I am a bit surprised by the STABLE response of your mom since I thought at least,the cetuximab will add benefit to the overall response of the treatment plan.
Keep in touch,
God bless.

Hi,
Thanks to u all for your replies.
Percy, i asked about mixed type (because i suspected it since the beginning since i saw the elevated alfa feto protein), i consulted her oncologist who said there is no method to diagnose it clearly, the interventional radiologist said that alfa feto protein is highly NON SPECIFIC and the CAT scan shows higher possibility of ICC or metastases rather than HCC.

He is replacing gemzar with xeloda as he thinks that it is not that effective (he isn't satisfied with the results of the previous 3 cycles), also he told me that we are waiting for the interventional radiologist till he comes back from a conference in France (about Y90) and he will consult them about my mom's case if they approved it in her condition she should be off Gemzar for 6 weeks as it increases hepatic sensitivity to radiation.

In Egypt CAT reports are as i posted, for further details i discuss them with doctors, her CAT scan were reviewed by the radiologist, the oncologist and the interventional radiologist.

Regarding Erbitux, when i asked the oncologist he said that he wasn't convinced by it from the beginning (he gave it to her because i asked him to do so...) but finally we decided to continue it till completing the 12 weeks.

BTW Percy, i asked him about sorafenib he replied that there are no recommendations to use it in CC, regarding panitumumab he told me that it is similar to cetuximab but "Humanized" so only less possibility of anaphylaxis.

Sallypa, thanks alot and waiting for your reply.

Hi Percy,
I think that targeted therapy still has a very long way before it could be approved so we can only undergo the trials in addition to chemo.

My mother's general condition is better now except for the general fatigue after chemo cycles, she was sooooo scared before CAT scan and she cried much, you know what... that was the first time i realized that mom is caring about the illness (she is a pharmacist so she knows that she has a tumor but i thought that she doesn't know how serious is her condition), after CAT scan i was happy that she is stable but actually i was frustrated (also her oncologist) that there was no regression, i asked her doctor whether was the treatment stopped progression or it is the natural course of the illness and 3 months will not show progression, he replied that no body could answer that questions, when i asked him about his expectations, he said tha tshe may remain stable disease (which means he doesn't expect regression )