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Cisplatin/Alimta vs. Carboplatin/Taxol -- feedback please!

dwareham
0 Recommendations

Dad was diagnosed Stage IV with mets to the brain on Halloween. We're in WBR now -- so far so good -- and talking chemo with his doctor. She suggests one of two therapies: Carboplatin / Taxol combo or Cisplatin / Alimta combo.

Can anyone provide feedback on their experiences with either of these? There seems to be a lot of positive experiences with Taxol working well but I haven't found much on Alimta (Pemetrexel).

Thanks in advance -- this forum has already proven invaluable to us. We really appreciate everyone's input during these difficult times.

Explore topics in this discussion:

Cancer Taxol Chemotherapy Tarceva Carboplatin Avastin Lung cancer

13 replies

Ramona

Alimta is relatively new. Onc says very good things about it. Believes it might change the stats for the better. Carboplatin is generally not as rough as cisplatin. How can your onc expect you to make the drug decision? Based on what?
Someone else should be able to give you a much fuller answer. Hope this helped slightly.

FOZ

My Dad tolerated Carbo much better than Cisplatin.

Dana

CarolsDaughter

Good morning,

We just recently returned from M.D Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX after getting our second opinion for my mom who has Stage IV w/ mets to bone. They said the very latest and best combo for non-small cell Stage IV lung cancer is a Carboplatin/Avastin/Alimta trio of drugs one day every 3 weeks (8 hour treatments). This is what my mom will be starting next week. There are also some additional preventative meds she will be taking as I guess this combo can cause a severe rash w/o them.

Mom's local oncologist was going to use Carboplatin/Taxol initially but has enthusiastically agreed to go with this latest treatment option.

We are new to all of this too as mom was only diagnosed in mid-October.

Good luck to you and your dad!

Lori

molar

For my 2 cents worth, I had very good response to initial chemo with 6 rounds of carbo/taxol /avastin for stage 4 NSCLC. I then went on avastin alone for 5 months and now I'm on alimta with good results so far. I have seen more and more people posting that they are getting carbo/avastin/alimta combo for first line. Whatever drug isn't used for the initial chemo might be an option for second line,

Susan M

Charlene1

Am also NSCLC Stage IV with mets to the liver diagnosed 8/07. My first line treatment was carboplatin/taxol/avastin which worked very well with very few side effects. Then I went on Tarceva (alone) and then started cisplatin/gemzar/avastin and had a terrible time with very low blood counts and nausea. Awful. Am now on carboplatin/gemzar/avastin and doing much, much better. Hope this helps. Hugs, Charlene

dwareham

Thanks for the advice. Right now we're leaning toward the Cisplatin / Alimta because he may be eligible for a clinical trial if he goes that route. From what I understand, the trial is for a drug from Merck that acts on the IGF1-R. I believe the trial is in Phase III and is trying to document the interaction of this new drug with the Cisplatin / Alimta chemotherapy.

If he goes the Carboplatin / Taxol route, he won't be eligible.

I'll need to look into Avastin as well; our oncologist didn't mention this drug.

BTW, I don't want to give the impression that she expects us to make this decision on our own. She has welcomed our desire to inform ourselves and to participate with her in making the best decision for my dad. This is one of the many reasons why we think she's a great doctor -- she makes recommendations and together, she and our family make the decisions.

ronnieandjanet

I am just thrilled that you were able to get to MDA. I am fighting Scott & White Senior Care to try and get my mom to MDA for a second opinion. They say no. Someone put it like this...."you can eat Blue Bell ice cream in Temple or you can eat Blue Bell ice cream in Houston, it doestn't matter where you eat it...it is still Blue Bell". I personally think that is an incredibly stupid statement. It is like comparing gold to coal. Cisplatin/Alimta made my mom horribly sick, so far Carbo/Alimta has not. I think every drug works differently on different people. The main thing is to stop that nasty disease in it's tracks. Good luck and God Bless.............

Vickie13

Cisplatin and Alimta are approved for 1st ROUND TREATMENT ONLY from what I have read. The combination sent Don into total renal failure and he passed away October 28 (he had been on two prior chemo regimes). Oncologist said he didn't have much experience with the combo in later stage cancer and I think it was just too rough for someone who was already weakened. Kidney damage is a listed side effect of Cisplatin. Talk to your doctor if you are not a first round chemo patient.

dwareham

Thanks for the info, Vickie, and I'm sorry for your loss.

Indeed we are first round; just found out about it on Halloween so this is all happening very fast. Thank you for sharing your story; we'll definitely be mindful of Don's experience as we finalize our decision.

Ronnie/Janet, we are not in MDA -- our doctor is at KU Med in Kansas City. From what I can tell, she is approaching Dad's cancer in the same manner MDA would.

RoRo

I'm quite sure everyone knows this and especially the doctors, but Alimta should not be used on anyone with squamous cell NSCLC.

Rose

lbp08

RoRo - why not Alimta on squamous cell NSCLC?

jeannie-babs

I do carbo and taxol and Avistan..shrinkage happened in my third rounds...had 3 more rounds anf just had big CT done monday jan19th see onco this friday the 23rd..will let u know how this combo worked

hugs Jeannie

Niks

So I have been reading this with much interest. My mom is potentially getting either option 1: taxol/carboplatin/avastin or option 2: alimta/carboplatin/avastin. Option 2 is a clinical trial... we technically dont get a choice it is a flip of the computer coin.

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