Carboplatin Alimta and Keytruda Treatment: What's your experience?

Posted by schmeeckle64 @schmeeckle64, Jun 12, 2023

Hi! I will be starting Carboplatin, Alimta and Keytruda this coming Friday and I am wondering if there is anyone in this group that has or is still on this treatment. What are the side effects? How many treatments did you have? Did you feel normal a few days after the treatment? I am just freaking out and would love to hear from someone that has actually experienced the treatment. Thank you so much!!!

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Lung Cancer Support Group.

Good morning.
I'm a newer member and wanted to ask how long people have been taking Tagrisso? I was diagnosed with stage 4 nsclc almost a year ago.
Metastisized to one rib, my spleen and kidneys, but not to lymph nodes or brain.
I received 4 rounds of carboplatin and have been taking Tagrisso since my first round of chemo. My oncologist says Tagrisso is only effective for 3 years.
I'm just curious how long people have been taking Tagrisso.
Thanks.

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There's no set time for Tagrisso to stop working. Now the savers progression free survival is 25.5 months after chemotherapy alone but there are many that it lasts over a decade. I also know what the oncology says and what we hear slcan be vastly and. At one point my oncologist said if you want a chance of beating this you need to gain some weight. I went from 278 to 133 in just about a month. What I heard and quoted for the longest time was eat or die. Which I did to 205 over the next 5 months. It wasn't until I Read the record of conversation that I was set stars.
I was stage 4b at diagnosis. A few weeks later I developed a skin metastasis. It was quickly swallowed my a neck met that broke through the skin. Had I had treatment it would have been classified as end stage. Average prognosis 3 to 5 months. But they were always quick to point out you just never know. Over 6 years later I'm cancer free, knock on wood.

There are treatment they can try like Deruxtecan and Telisotuzumab Vedotin plus what ever comes along between mow And then

You might want to start your own Post. This one was the Keytruda Trio which is back different than tagrisso

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Profile picture for gigispen @gigispen

@jennkrumz . I can relate to your journey. I was diagnosed with stage 4 adenocarcinoma a yr ago and have been on carboplatin, Keytruda and alimta initially then just Keytruda and alimta. I don’t have too much side effects other than 3-4 days of nausea, constipation and fatigue. By third week I feel normal, then the regime begins all over, like a roller coaster. I too had sinus pressure but Petscan and mri show no growth. Thank God. I had tumors in brain, lung, liver and bones initially but over half a yr with no activity and clear results. I have nsclc with high pdl1. I too was told I’ll be on this regimen forever or until remission. My regimen so far I consider a miracle along with prayers. The oncologist says I will probably have a longer life span than most with this treatment, guessing between 5-10 yrs. I’ll take it! Thanks for sharing your story. Wish you prayers and the best

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Welcome to Mayo Connect @gigispen, Thanks to you and Jenn for sharing this information of the sinus related side effect. I'm glad that your pressure was not cancer!, and that you've found a treatment that is working for you. I'm sure it's not easy to live your life with this short cycle of treatments. Do you have help to get through those though days after the treatments?

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Profile picture for peterhall66 @peterhall66

Good morning.
I'm a newer member and wanted to ask how long people have been taking Tagrisso? I was diagnosed with stage 4 nsclc almost a year ago.
Metastisized to one rib, my spleen and kidneys, but not to lymph nodes or brain.
I received 4 rounds of carboplatin and have been taking Tagrisso since my first round of chemo. My oncologist says Tagrisso is only effective for 3 years.
I'm just curious how long people have been taking Tagrisso.
Thanks.

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@peterhall66, There are many members taking Tagrisso, and for longer periods of time than the statistics expect. My story is similar, but with a different mutation and targeted therapy. Statistics show alectinib to be effective for an average of 34 months. I'm on month 77 (but who's counting 😉 .
There are certainly cases where the therapy is effective for a shorter time, but there are others where it's longer too. At this time, no one can predict how long these therapies will be effective for us. There is some work being done in the ALK community to see if they can determine why some cancers respond better than others.
I'm hoping for similar results for you with the Tagrisso. Here's a link to a discussion that focuses on Tagrisso that may be more helpful:
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/tagrisso-for-lung-cancer/

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Profile picture for Lisa, Volunteer Mentor @lls8000

@peterhall66, There are many members taking Tagrisso, and for longer periods of time than the statistics expect. My story is similar, but with a different mutation and targeted therapy. Statistics show alectinib to be effective for an average of 34 months. I'm on month 77 (but who's counting 😉 .
There are certainly cases where the therapy is effective for a shorter time, but there are others where it's longer too. At this time, no one can predict how long these therapies will be effective for us. There is some work being done in the ALK community to see if they can determine why some cancers respond better than others.
I'm hoping for similar results for you with the Tagrisso. Here's a link to a discussion that focuses on Tagrisso that may be more helpful:
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/tagrisso-for-lung-cancer/

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@lls8000
Thanks for your response. I was just curious as to what other people were experiencing. When my doctor told me last February after chemo that my prognosis was probably about 4-5 years, that's still a hard to take. I'm glad to hear you have been taking it for 6+ years. Hopefully it will work for me also.
I actually feel fine. I can still do all the things I did before my diagnosis. Not too many side effects.
Take care and good health to you also!

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