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Just got back from Don's appointment with Dr. Lawrence. I just spent 1/2 hour writing out specifics of his response only to have the board eat it, so I am going to do this more abridged this time.
Dr. Lawrence called it "the best response to chemotherapy I've ever seen". He said it was the kind of response he has seen only with BRAF inhibitors.
Here's the down-n-dirty version of the results:
Just got back from Don's appointment with Dr. Lawrence. I just spent 1/2 hour writing out specifics of his response only to have the board eat it, so I am going to do this more abridged this time.
Dr. Lawrence called it "the best response to chemotherapy I've ever seen". He said it was the kind of response he has seen only with BRAF inhibitors.
Here's the down-n-dirty version of the results:
LDH: Down again to 268 from 388 last week.
Lungs: Down from innumerable nodules up to 1cm in size to 4 (four) nodules: 4mm, 3mm, 2mm and 2mm respectively.
Tumor under right arm: Down from 10.4cm X 10.2cm to 2.7cm X 2.2cm. 2 small tumors in right chest wall same or slightly smaller at 6mm and 3mm respectively.
Liver: Still have innumerable lesions, but they are better defined and smaller in size. Largest lesion came down from 5.2cm to 2.6cm in size.
Bones: Results a little more hazy as there were mentions of "new" lesions that Dr. Lawrence doesn't actually think are new. (I think he's right, as some of the "new" ones were mentioned in an MRI of Don's spine down at Brigham and Women's hospital done in May) However, the fact that Don is taking 25% of the pain medicine he was 5 weeks ago certainly points to some improvement in this area. There was mention that at least 2 lesions seen appeared to be responding to treatment.
Brain: Scan clean for brain; shows some signs of possible small bone lesions in skull (not new).
Plan of action for now is to continue chemo for another cycle and will re-evaluate in a few weeks. Plan B (when we get there) was proposed to be the Compassionate Use PLX4032 trial. Dr. Lawrence wants to have Don sign paperwork now so they can send the tissue sample to Roche for testing (they require testing it themselves instead of taking result from previous test…and we know it takes a couple of weeks for results).
I know I should be thrilled with the results–and I am–but I must admit that I was hoping there would be less lesions in his liver.
Michelle, wife of Don
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Lisa,
Vemurafenib and PLX4032 are one and the same, so that is what he would be doing.
And, yes, Don did find he had more side effects the second time around (body aches especially, but that seems to be specific to the Taxol). However, that will vary greatly depending on the specific drugs used, so that may not be the case with you. (And I am hoping it isn't!)
Still, even with the increase in symptoms, he is much better than he was, so it is certainly worth it.
I will be hoping that you will respond to your chemo also!
Michelle
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Lisa,
Vemurafenib and PLX4032 are one and the same, so that is what he would be doing.
And, yes, Don did find he had more side effects the second time around (body aches especially, but that seems to be specific to the Taxol). However, that will vary greatly depending on the specific drugs used, so that may not be the case with you. (And I am hoping it isn't!)
Still, even with the increase in symptoms, he is much better than he was, so it is certainly worth it.
I will be hoping that you will respond to your chemo also!
Michelle
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