1. < Pancreatic Cancer

Anyone on Gemcitabine with Abraxane? How long? Effective?

Posted by helenar @helenar, Aug 17, 2022

Hi, I'm Helena from South Africa. I have been diagnosed with PC, stage 4, in March. Tumour between body and tail and with one lesion on my liver.
I have been on Folfirinox for 3months, but it had no effect, allthough my markers came down from 3091 to 357, the tumour increased in size and there is another lesion on my liver.
I have started Gemcitabine with Abraxane.
Has anyone been on Gemcitabine/Abraxane?
If so, how long and how effective is this treatment?

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

mayoconnectuser1 | @mayoconnectuser1 | Dec 6, 2022

pendesk,

OK, so it was staged as non-resectable. Sorry, I misunderstood.

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1 reply
pendesk8 | @pendesk8 | Dec 6, 2022
In reply to @mayoconnectuser1 "pendesk8, Given staging that allows resection, why would a surgeon be against the only course of..." + (show)
@mayoconnectuser1

pendesk8,

Given staging that allows resection, why would a surgeon be against the only course of action that has potential as a cure?

Laparoscopic Whipple procedures are performed at several medical centers in the US, including Mayo.

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She wanted me to continue on chemo until death,yes really.She didn't know she had a fighter.She said if I had the surgery it would just come back anyway.I told her if I even got two years thats two years more.Thanks for the info.

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1 reply
mayoconnectuser1 | @mayoconnectuser1 | Dec 5, 2022
In reply to @pendesk8 "I have been on that treatment for 4 months starting on 5th month.My tumor went from..." + (show)
@pendesk8

I have been on that treatment for 4 months starting on 5th month.My tumor went from 17.9 to 5.My Dr would not recommend surgery because she is against the surgery.So I went for a 2nd opinion and that Dr said theres no reason I cant have the surgery.Now looking for someone that does it by laprascopy.Much less invasive and a easier recovery.

Jump to this post

pendesk8,

Given staging that allows resection, why would a surgeon be against the only course of action that has potential as a cure?

Laparoscopic Whipple procedures are performed at several medical centers in the US, including Mayo.

REPLY
2 replies
cathyras | @cathyras | Dec 5, 2022
In reply to @pendesk8 "I have been on that treatment for 4 months starting on 5th month.My tumor went from..." + (show)
@pendesk8

I have been on that treatment for 4 months starting on 5th month.My tumor went from 17.9 to 5.My Dr would not recommend surgery because she is against the surgery.So I went for a 2nd opinion and that Dr said theres no reason I cant have the surgery.Now looking for someone that does it by laprascopy.Much less invasive and a easier recovery.

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Good luck. Glad you got a second opinion.

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sprinter345 | @sprinter345 | Dec 5, 2022
In reply to @cathyras "You have to know that CA 19-9 alone is not an indicator for cancer. It can..." + (show)
@cathyras

You have to know that CA 19-9 alone is not an indicator for cancer. It can go up or other reasons. I myself have struggled with this. Mine goes up and down. What my doctor told me is to look for a pattern of increases. Best wishes.

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I knew it commonly went up the first couple cycles of treatment but hadn’t heard of up and down later on. Thank you

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pendesk8 | @pendesk8 | Dec 5, 2022

I have been on that treatment for 4 months starting on 5th month.My tumor went from 17.9 to 5.My Dr would not recommend surgery because she is against the surgery.So I went for a 2nd opinion and that Dr said theres no reason I cant have the surgery.Now looking for someone that does it by laprascopy.Much less invasive and a easier recovery.

REPLY
2 replies
cathyras | @cathyras | Dec 4, 2022
In reply to @carol1951 "Had to lower my husbands dose after first session. He is on his 6 session of..." + (show)
@carol1951

Had to lower my husbands dose after first session. He is on his 6 session of 2 on 1 off. He started with C-19-9 of 16,000. Now down to 187. It went up last month by 70 points

Jump to this post

You have to know that CA 19-9 alone is not an indicator for cancer. It can go up or other reasons. I myself have struggled with this. Mine goes up and down. What my doctor told me is to look for a pattern of increases. Best wishes.

REPLY
1 reply
carol1951 | @carol1951 | Dec 3, 2022
In reply to @sprinter345 "My husband is on his 6th cycle but they have had to lower dosage and has..." + (show)
@sprinter345

My husband is on his 6th cycle but they have had to lower dosage and has missed one treatment while his platelets get back up to a safe level. CA 19-9 down from over 4000 to 600. No growth. Has anyone else had the platelet and dose reduction issue? He is 3 weeks on, one off.

Jump to this post

Had to lower my husbands dose after first session. He is on his 6 session of 2 on 1 off. He started with C-19-9 of 16,000. Now down to 187. It went up last month by 70 points

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1 reply
dubbscopper | @dubbscopper | Oct 13, 2022
In reply to @sprinter345 "My husband is on his 6th cycle but they have had to lower dosage and has..." + (show)
@sprinter345

My husband is on his 6th cycle but they have had to lower dosage and has missed one treatment while his platelets get back up to a safe level. CA 19-9 down from over 4000 to 600. No growth. Has anyone else had the platelet and dose reduction issue? He is 3 weeks on, one off.

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Yes after first treatment so I had to change to every other week

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sprinter345 | @sprinter345 | Oct 12, 2022
In reply to @sprinter345 "Very low dose of steroids with the infusion and also anti nausea meds with the infusion..." + (show)
@sprinter345

Very low dose of steroids with the infusion and also anti nausea meds with the infusion helped my husband’s side effects tremendously. When he didn’t have the steroids he was sick for days after each treatment. Now we go home and have dinner and the rest of his week is pretty good.

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I hope you get some relief from the side effects. The Neulasta helped with the white blood cell counts so treatments could still be 3 times, then one off. The platelets are the new challenge.

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