Radiation therapy after 6 months of G/A chemo treatments

After having Whipple surgery and 12 folfirinox treatments in 2021, my pancreatic cancer recurred in 2023. I started on G/A in late June 2023, hade 4 cycles (3 weeks on, 1 off) followed by 25 radiation treatments. All was looking good, then tumour marker started climbing again. I’m back on G/A, same routine as before 3 on, 1 off. Mainly tired, some nausea/diarrhea, hair loss. All a small cost to still be here with my family. Waiting to see if this at least slows things down (the waiting part is always hard) . Best wishes to you!

I did 5 rounds gem/abrax then 28 days of radiation with weekly gem infusion, then 1 more round gem/abrax prior to surgery. Radiation was well tolerated. Fatigue over time. And nausea. I took Zofran before every session. Radiation was successful for me. Killed my tumor along with the chemo, and allowed me to have surgery. I was diagnosed stage 3 locally advanced non resectable

@krfinlayson
Hello, wondering what area they radiated? And did a tumor reappear in that area?

Tumor is in the Pancreas…. Will start radiation treatment next week. The radiation treatment is very precise, targeting the tumor while minimizing radiation to other organs.

Thank you…this is very encouraging. I understand not everyone responds the same, but your experience is inspiring. Thanks again❤️

Thank you for your response. In my case, after 7 cycles of G/A chemo treatments (1 day treatment per week, one week off), I had some tiredness, no nausea and minimal diarrhea. Not sure if my new radiation treatment will change the minimum side effects I expected with the previous G/A chemo…. fingers crossed.
Best wishes to you as well!

The recurrence was at the surgical site (vessels leading to liver and in a lymph node close to my diaphragm. Both areas were radiated to the max. Tumour marked dropped significantly after radiation but tripled within 3 weeks. CT shows possible spread into liver. Was taking Capcitabine with radiation. Resumed G/A within days of learning Ca19-9 was climbing again. Hope this helps. Was told no more radiation possible in those areas, but if another area arises, may be able to radiate.

Just curious on your G+A treatment of 3 on and 1 off. I'm going to start that next month and was wondering how fatigued you got? When did it wear off? How long will you be on the treatment?

thank you

My treatment was every other week (1 day per week followed by 1 week off). My side effects were mild… some tiredness, no nausea or diarrhea. I believe there was another post that referred to 3 on and 1 off.
Best wishes with your treatment results.

Following a couple of months of 5FU in the summer of 2023, my chemo treatment was changed to G/A due to severe 5FU side effects. In late November and early December I had 15 near daily radiation treatments. The first two weeks I experienced no side effects from the radiation. The third week of radiation, as well as the two weeks that followed my last treatment, I had several severe side effects. I was miserable for most of that three week period, but the side effects began to fade in week three and were gone by the end of that third week.