My mother is 80 years old and was diagnosed with gallbladder cancer over 2 years ago (July 2020). The cancer was discovered following an autopsy on her gallbladder, which was removed due to severe pain. There were no other symptoms like jaundice present at the time. She was told that the cancer was caught relatively early, but, upon further imaging and blood tests, it was discovered that the cancer had spread to several lymph nodes and parts of the liver.
My mom went through another round of surgery to remove part of her liver, which had shown cancer-like lesions. Biopsy results on the removed liver tissue revealed NO sign of cancer! Since then, she has gone through several rounds of chemotherapy and radiation. Specifically, her chemotherapy regimen was as follows:
- Gemcitabine and cisplatin
- Gemcitabine + cisplatin + durvalumab (Topaz study)
- Oxaliplatin + 5-FU
Her body has had various reactions to the therapies above. After nearly six months of therapy with the Topaz study meds, her cancer was still growing, as evidenced by cancer antigen (CA 19-9) blood test and liver MRI. The lesions in the liver have not been positively identified as cancer (too small to biopsy). However, their mere existence, coupled with increase in CA 19-9 numbers have convinced her oncologist team that they are likely cancer. Hence the chemo regimen...
Fast forward to just over a week ago, her oncologist determined that the cisplatin + gems + immune regimen has taken its course, and, in order to further force the cancer to "stability" or "remission", it is best to move to the oxygen + 5FU regimen. After one session of this new cocktail, it became very clear that my mom's body was not responding well to this treatment. She lost her appetite, was extremely weak, was not able to sleep well at night, and lost ~6 lbs in close to a week. My mom currently weighs 52 kilos (~115 lbs), so the weight loss is significant.
I have provided this background to see if anyone has had a similar experience and what (if any) other therapies they may have tried that has worked for them.