Any Info on combination of kidney and spine Chemo Drugs

• By TJ7334
• Posted December 23, 2008 at 12:28 pm
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I've been searching for drugs that will assist with spinal tumors.

I've read where thalidomide is used for brain tumors because it isn't nearly as toxic as chemo agents, although they are sometimes used in combination with chemo. Brain tumors have been known to stop growing when these drugs are used.

One article I read on thalidomide said that the drug would assist in cutting off the blood supply to the tumor so that, at best, it would shrink and die. At the very least it would seem that growth would stop if the tumor can't produce blood vessels. The general premise sounds good for spinal tumors as well, but I found very little information concerning its use for such tumors.

Temozolomide is a chemo drug that stops cancer cells from dividing or growing. It's usually used with radiation. Most all articles I read on this drug also involved brain tumors, but I did find a few that related to spinal tumors. (See end of this note.)

Bevacizumab inhibits the grown of blood vessels in tumors. It seems to be used primarily for brain tumors as well.

Does anyone know why these drugs are not being used more often in the treatment of spinal tumors?


Studies on Temozolomide: http://www.uptodate.com/patients/content/abstract.do?topicKey=~Px6nAgDJRqgX LZ&refNum=38 and http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18615600?dopt=AbstractPlus

Temozolomide use for spinal cord tumors:
http://thejns.org/doi/pdf/10.3171/spi.2007.6.5.447?cookieSet=1 and http://www.springerlink.com/content/f56xq34ul1806121/

Clinicals involving Bevacizumab and spinal tumors: http://www.chp.edu/CHP/Bevacizumab+Irinotecan+Treating+Recurrent+Tumors and http://www.stjude.org/stjude/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=64a36e52a83c1110VgnVCM10 00001e0215acRCRD&vgnextchannel=9ec7ef9e87018010VgnVCM1000000e2015acRCRD

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• By joyceg98
• Posted December 29, 2008 at 4:21 pm
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There have been several clinical trials with the drugs mentioned above, in hopes of affecting all VHL tumors. The results to date indicate that while the abdominal tumors are responding reasonably well, the brain and spinal and eye tumors have not responded very well to any of these drugs.

I should hasten to add that these are the early renditions of these angiogenesis inhibitors. The theory is good, but the drugs still seem to need some work. They are continuing to fine-tune the drugs, and are exploring using them in combinations, or new drugs that hit the "pathway" from more than one angle.

There is no clear winner yet. And we still need people to participate in the clinical trials, to help us find out what will work best.

Best wishes,
Joyce

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