Any experiences with carboplatin and etoposide chemo?

I believe fellow members @praisegod13 @maryste @kmcbride77 may have experience with carboplatin and etoposide chemo.

@tfoucaul, will you be starting chemo soon?

Hi. I have had amazing results so far with etoposide/carboplatin (5 rounds) with concurrent radiation. I was diagnosed stage 3B inoperable large cell neuroendocrine lung cancer in October of 2023 and began treatment in that same month on an emergency basis. The cancer was very aggressive and had even infiltrated my pulmonary arteries plus major lymph node involvement. I did 6 weeks of radiation with the chemo. It was rough going having the 2 treatments at once but I am still in remission almost 3 years later! My cancer had no actionable markers or mutations so this "old school" chemo was my only option. I am amazed to be alive. I ask my doctors why I survived and there is really no answer other than being extremely fortunate that my cancer responded to the treatment so well that my body has had a chance to fight back. I wish you the same good fortune.

@kmcbride77
That is good news. Fortunately/unfortunately I have well diff pnet that is behaving badly after prrt retreatment. Mayo suggested this drink to try before cabozantinib. My latest biopsy didn't show any dll3 so that's good I guess.

TJF

@colleenyoung Thanks for referring this to me. My wife with poorly differentiated Grade 3 metastatic Large Cell Neuroendocrine Stage 4 cancer. Her oncologist recommended six cycles of carboplatin/etoposide infusion while stating clearly it could NOT cure the NEC but MIGHT lengthen her life. Before the infusion, my wife was fully functional except for mild fatigue. After 2of six infusion cycles, she could not walk and could barely move. The oncologist then had a CT scan done which showed that the cancer's advance had accelerated, not diminished. My wife died shortly thereafter in a nursing home. My wife was hoping for a miracle, but the carboplatin/etoposide infusions were a CURSE, not a miracle. The accelerated my wife's death. There was a British sstudy in 2015 that showed that carboplatin/etoposide accelerated death in 25% of LC NEC patients with high KI-67 indexes (my wife's KI-67 index was 85% right before she started the chemo infusions. SHE NEVEFR SHOULD HAVE TAKEN THE CHEMO, and she might have lived longer and certainly would have had a better quality of life until she passed.

@kmcbride77 How old are you? Also, my wife's LC-NEC metastasis was into her liver. She was in her early 80's and had the build of a ballet dancer. I think it possibly that her carboplatin/etoposide therapy may have been excessive. I watched her go from excellent mobility to inability to walk in less than 45 days, I have no confidence that the amount of chemo was appropriate for her body size. And our hospital had just fired its entire pathology department (out-sourced) and hired a new company. I have many questions about her test results and treatment. It doesn't matter any more. She is in Heaven with God now.

@praisegod13
I am so very sorry for your loss. I am a widow for almost 10 years already and it is very hard watching your loved one suffer. I deeply sympathize with you. My husband fought colon cancer for 8 years, which was already in his liver at diagnosis.
I am 68 now, was 65 at time of my etoposide/carboplatin treatment. I can understand how this chemo would have been very hard on your wife being older and slender in build. They are supposed to take all of that into account when administering the chemo. It was very hard for me as well and I will not be able to do chemo again because I have never felt strong since my treatments and the damage caused to my lungs by the cancer and the treatments. I will choose palliative care at time of recurrence unless there is a targeted therapy available by then.
Again, I am so sorry for your loss.