Is anyone on Capecitabine for pancreatic cancer?

Thank you for the feedback. I wish you luck with your chemo treatments.

How did they decide on your 3 dose chemo?

Did you feel the PET scans didn't show anything different than the CT scans ?

Thanks!
It’s 3 sessions and then 1 week off. I think I do this for 3 months to see if it works and if it doesn’t then they might try radiation, but with many lesions in my liver my oncologist doesn’t feel radiation would be very effective for me as they try to target 1 spot, but then may miss another. If that doesn’t work, then I would like to try the clinical trials route.
It seems I had cancer on my hepatic artery during my 5FU chemo which was just keeping it at bay since ca19-9 was within normal limits but but 4.5 months after chemo ca19-9 it rise but the PET scans didn’t show anything, only the mri did since they are flat lesions. I wish you a good road ahead.

@mnewland99 , I would be interested if you could ask your oncologist (medical and/or radiation) is there is any path forward for you to use something like the Civa Sheet. It's a sheet of radioactive pellets that can be surgically placed over a generalized area to provide "one-way" radiation of that area. The gold backing prevents radiation from coming out the other side and affecting healthy tissue nearby.
https://civatechoncology.com/civasheet/
One of their images on that web page shows it attached to the SMA. I wonder if that could help @ncteacher and others with arterial involvement.

There are also several centers offering Hepatic Arterial Infusion Pumps. One example:
https://hillman.upmc.com/cancer-care/surgical-oncology/koch-regional-cancer-therapy-center/treatments/hepatic-arterial-infusion
They inject chemo directly into an artery that feeds your liver, which produces a much more concentrated dose where it's needed. The UPMC link above describes it primarily in the context of liver mets from colorectal cancer, but it seems applicable in general to this non-medically-trained outside observer.

One of the pancreas/liver surgeons at Mayo/Jax (Katherine Poruk) has this procedure listed on her bio page as well.

As usual, thank you for excellent feedback and recommendations! It all sounds very hopeful. I just saw him today, so I will email my oncologist about those options. I was expecting these kind of options when I switched to UCLA , but so far nothing. Questions are always good though. I did ask my doc today about surgery on hepatic artery and he says it’s only done during the first determination that you have pancreatic cancer. Since any light ups in hepatic artery were seen in December (after surgery and before I started chemo though no radiologist commented it was there until my CT in March 2023) it’s considered stage 4 and I’m told nobody does hepatic artery grafts in stage 4. I would appreciate to know if anyone else has had a different experience regarding this.

My sister completed the standard of care 12 rounds Folfirinox and her doc at Memorial Sloane- Kettering is giving her a 2 week "break" before starting capecitabine. She was diagnosed in July 2023 and visited Mayo in August. Staged at Stage IV, not a candidate for surgery, and has arterial involvement. Folfirinox began back at home at MSK. She has had good results with the treatments though it has taken its toll on her.

Prior to her last Folfirinox infusion her CA19-9, and CEA went up slightly which concerned me.
Not sure what to expect from capecitabine, which I understand to be a pro drug of 5 FU --- Nausea/vomiting? Daily pill?

Anyone have experience with this drug?

Thank you.

I had three weeks of capecitabine in December.
A little stomach upset and tiredness during the first three days. After that no side effects. After G/A infusions that made continuously sick, capecitabine was easy.

I wish you well.

I took it for 5 weeks while I had radiation. It was in pill form, taken twice a day. A very nice break from IV chemo. It was a breeze compared to folfirinox or gem/abrax. Slight queasiness but not frequently. All the best to you!

Thank you so much for your reply. She is enjoying her break from Folfirinox. She is starting capecitabine 4/2. No additional chemo or radiation at MSK in NYC.

The best to you as well!

Thanks for your reply. Are you still taking it? My sister will not be receiving any additional chemo and she has never received radiation. Not sure how long the capecitabine routine will continue, or what the next steps will be.

My very best to you!