› Forums › General Melanoma Community › Zelboraf and skin mets
- This topic has 3 replies, 1 voice, and was last updated 12 years, 11 months ago by
AllyNTAus.
- Post
-
- June 28, 2012 at 8:05 pm
For those that are taking Zelboraf and have skin mets, have you noticed a difference in them? If so, how long did it take before you noticed anything different?
My husband has been on Zelboraf since May 6. He was originally on the full dose of 960 mg twice a day, but due to the severity of the side effects the dosage was reduced to 720 mg twice a day.
So far there hasn't been any change in his skin mets and he hasn't had his first ct scan since starting the Zelboraf. We spoke to his oncologist about it, but all he said is that the mets are the last thing to change.
Thanks,
Valerie
- Replies
-
-
- June 29, 2012 at 12:59 am
Hi Valerie,
I am not on Zelboraf but its GSK cousin, Dabrafenib, just into my 9th week of taking it. When I started, I had a number of enlarged internal lymph nodes and one very small lung met (plus an unknown number of small "spots", not actual solid tumor lumps, which were seen on a bronchoscopy, and my breathing was compromised), so won't know how those are going until scans in a few weeks. I also had a nest of nasty black melanomas on my scalp, plus a number of small dark dots around my neck and chest, and I had a small (marble-sized) lump under my right arm which appeared quite quickly just before I started the drug.
What has happened with me is the lump under the arm completely disappeared within the first week. I am now breathing very well without steroids so I assume there has been stabilisation there. The mels on my scalp – well prior to the drug they were growing fast, getting raised and itchy. They have stopped growing, perhaps even shrunk a bit, and have flattened down and are not itchy. The small spots around my neck/chest are stable. None have disappeared, but equally none have grown and no new ones have appeared.
So what your husband's doctor says is probably right, the external stuff looks like it is slow to change.
Wishing you and your husband all the best.
Allison
-
- June 29, 2012 at 12:59 am
Hi Valerie,
I am not on Zelboraf but its GSK cousin, Dabrafenib, just into my 9th week of taking it. When I started, I had a number of enlarged internal lymph nodes and one very small lung met (plus an unknown number of small "spots", not actual solid tumor lumps, which were seen on a bronchoscopy, and my breathing was compromised), so won't know how those are going until scans in a few weeks. I also had a nest of nasty black melanomas on my scalp, plus a number of small dark dots around my neck and chest, and I had a small (marble-sized) lump under my right arm which appeared quite quickly just before I started the drug.
What has happened with me is the lump under the arm completely disappeared within the first week. I am now breathing very well without steroids so I assume there has been stabilisation there. The mels on my scalp – well prior to the drug they were growing fast, getting raised and itchy. They have stopped growing, perhaps even shrunk a bit, and have flattened down and are not itchy. The small spots around my neck/chest are stable. None have disappeared, but equally none have grown and no new ones have appeared.
So what your husband's doctor says is probably right, the external stuff looks like it is slow to change.
Wishing you and your husband all the best.
Allison
-
- June 29, 2012 at 12:59 am
Hi Valerie,
I am not on Zelboraf but its GSK cousin, Dabrafenib, just into my 9th week of taking it. When I started, I had a number of enlarged internal lymph nodes and one very small lung met (plus an unknown number of small "spots", not actual solid tumor lumps, which were seen on a bronchoscopy, and my breathing was compromised), so won't know how those are going until scans in a few weeks. I also had a nest of nasty black melanomas on my scalp, plus a number of small dark dots around my neck and chest, and I had a small (marble-sized) lump under my right arm which appeared quite quickly just before I started the drug.
What has happened with me is the lump under the arm completely disappeared within the first week. I am now breathing very well without steroids so I assume there has been stabilisation there. The mels on my scalp – well prior to the drug they were growing fast, getting raised and itchy. They have stopped growing, perhaps even shrunk a bit, and have flattened down and are not itchy. The small spots around my neck/chest are stable. None have disappeared, but equally none have grown and no new ones have appeared.
So what your husband's doctor says is probably right, the external stuff looks like it is slow to change.
Wishing you and your husband all the best.
Allison
-
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.