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Hello everyone: I have a question. Has anyone had any experience with the Pfizer drug called Sutent. It has been used mainly for kidney and stomach cancer. I have nsclc and they have decided to let me try it. I was just curious if antone else has used it or even heard of it. Loy
Cancer Surgery Brain tumors Acid reflux Stomach cancer Chemotherapy Pain Tarceva Heartburn Lung cancer Diarrhea Sutent
I have heard of this drug. A few months ago I was in a study with alimta and nexavar. I received the alimta but not the experimental drug, nexavar. These drugs(sutent and nexavar) are somewhat related. At the time my oncologist said she was not sure that these drugs would be approved as single agents for nsclc. On the other hand, I remember reading awhile back that someone with nsclc had been taking sutent for 2 years with success.
Susan M
Great thanks for the input. Hopefully I can get this 2 year person to communicate. I just want to know about side effects etc.
As I recall, I think I read about the person on sutent on the Cancer Compass site. I have posted a query before on nexavar to this site with little response. Are you going to get sutent through a clinical trial?
Susan M
No I am getting it through regular prescription. There is a clinical trial Although I don't know at what point they are starting. I got my prescription in the mail and they told me to start when ever I wanted.
I took Sutent for 5 months during the past year. I was diagnosed with NSCLC in July 2008. I had mets in my brain, lymph nodes, and bones with primary tumor in my right lung. I was 41 at the time of my diagnosis, also a never smoker, very healthy eater (vegetarian for 15 years), and very physically active (had run 10 miles on day of my diagnosis.
I started Sutent after brain surgery to remove 1 met followed by WBR and targeted radiation to remaining
mets. Once I started Sutent, I started having problems with extreme fatigue with sleeping 16-18 hrs/day. Onc took me off Sutent several times for up to a week to
get my energy back. Had to hire full-time nanny to
take care of my 2 and 4 yr old kids b/c I was too tired. Fatigue was not my only side-effect. I also had problems with nausea and loss of appetite.
On Sutent, I had mixed results - some shrinkage in primary and lymph node tumors and no new brain tumors but at the end of Feb., I developed severe
pleural effusion and paracardium effusion. When I was admitted to ER, they couldn't get a blood
pressure reading on me bc my heart was only working at a fifth of its capacity. My cardiologist said I only survived bc I was a runner and my heart was conditioned to operate with low pressure. I was
immediately taken off Sutent and the study.
My Onc. told me that he had great success with Sutent and his patients who have lung cancer. It just didn't work for me. I thought it was worth a try. Since then I found out I have EGFR mutation and have been taking Tarceva which has been kicking my cancer's butt.
If you take the Sutent, I hope you have success with it. Please feel free to ask me any other ?s about Sutent.
I wish you strength in your fight against cancer.
thanks strong mom for the valuable info. I am sure it doesn't effect each person the same. My Onc wants me to try it so I will. I will let you know how it comes out. Thanks again
Strong Mom, did your onc rqest the EGFR mutation before starting you on Traceva or did you have to do that on your own.
I want my sister to try Traceva but I want to make sure she's not wasting her time if it won't work for her.
She was a smoker. I wonder if Traceva works in smokers or just nonsmokers
Tks!
Becky
My dad just finished 6 weeks on Sutent. He is 78 and was diagnosed in April with Stage IV NSCLC with bone mets to spine, pelvis, rib and shoulder joint.
He was feeling pretty darn lousy before the Sutent (no appetite, low energy) so it's hard to attribute those side effects to the Sutent but he is definitely experiencing those things continually. He has noticed some acid reflux symptoms after he does eat something, and he attributes that to the Sutent. He had some shortness of breath that increased over the last few weeks; last week, his oxygen level was down some so they decided to drain the fluid. He is feeling some relief in his breathing, though still a bit sore from the procedure.
At the three week mark, his dr. had some concerns about the way he looked, so he ordered an early CT scan (his first post-Sutent scan was supposed to be at the end of 6 weeks) to see what was going on. To our pleasant surprise, the tumor showed little or no change. (We were so concerned that the shortness of breath he was experiencing was due to a spreading of his cancer). His dr. was 'very pleased' with the scan results. That's pretty much where we are now. Dad feels crummy but we *think* the Sutent is working.
By the way, the Sutent that my dad is receiving is part of a clinical trial for NSCLC patients over 70. I didn't realize that they were prescribing the Sutent off-label for lung cancer patients yet. Interesting to know.
I have carcinoid tumors in my lungs and have been taking sutent since Feb 2009. Started on 50mg for 28 days on 2 weeks off. Each month my symptons got worse, a lot of gas and bloating,diahrea heartburn, nausea, nothing tastes good, sore mouth and tongue, sore bottoms of my feet. pain in my hip and tired! In April they lowered the dosage to 37mgs and I'm feeling somewhat better, mostly still have the stomach problems. other symptons are less severe. I also have insomina, usually don't fall asleep till 3am. My Dr suggested going down to 25mg with no break, not sure if I want to do that. They have seen some shrinkage in my tumors and say that if I want to keep the tumors from growing that I will need to stay on Sutent permanently.
bigloy
Sutent and Nexavar are anti-angiogenic drugs. At a critical point in the growth of a tumor, the tumor sends out signals to the nearby endothelial cells to activate new blood vessel growth. Endothelial cells (cells that form the walls of blood vessels) are the source of new blood vessels and have a remarkable ability to divide and migrate.
Sutent is a "multi-targeted" kinase inhibitor. That means it inhibits several proteins involved in triggering replication in cancer cells. Because these multiple proteins are involved in both "tumor growth" (proliferation) and "angiogenesis" (blood vessels feeding a tumor), Sutent has both "anti-tumor" as well as "anti-angiogenic" properties (not just one or the other). In addition, because Sutent inhibits "multiple" kinases, it possesses activity against "multiple" types of tumors (including lung cancer).
There is a microvascular viability assay developed to identify potential responders to these anti-angiogenic drugs. It was discovered that endothelial cells are present in tumor microclusters and the drug effect upon these cells can be assessed.
The assay has a morphological endpoint which allows for visualization of both tumor and microvascular cells and direct assessment of both anti-tumor and anti-microvascular drug effect. It can simultaneously test for direct anti-tumor activity and for anti-vascular activity within the three dimensional tumor cell clusters.
Anti-angiogenesis treatment is somewhat like chemotherapy. Both are forms of systemic treatment. This means that both treatments use drugs that travel throughout the body to have their effects. But anti-angiogenesis drugs do not work the same way chemotherapy does. Because of this, they differ in terms of how well they work.
Photomicrographs in the assay have been able to show if clones of tumor cells accumulate or don't accumulate the drugs. If the cells don't accumulate, they will not get killed by the drugs. The short term future of cancer therapeutics is combinations of "targeted" agents, not only for lung cancer treatment, but for all solid cancers.
For the most part, anti-angiogenesis drugs tend to have milder side effects than chemotherapy drugs.
Chemotherapy drugs work by attacking cells in the body that divide quickly. This is why they work against cancer cells. But they can also harm other cells that divide quickly, such as those in the bone marrow, the skin, and in the mouth and intestines. This can lead to serious side effects like low blood cell counts (which can cause fatigue, infections, and bleeding), hair loss, mouth sores, nausea, and diarrhea.
Unlike chemotherapy drugs, anti-angiogenesis drugs do not target these normal cells. They act where new blood vessels are forming, so they usually do not cause these side effects.
But anti-angiogenesis drugs can have their own side effects. While they're not as common or severe as those from chemotherapy, they can still be serious, or even life-threatening. Because only a few anti-angiogenesis drugs are being used, it's not yet clear if the effects seen so far will be seen with all of these drugs.
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