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.

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

REPLY
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.

Jump to this post

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

REPLY
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.

Jump to this post

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.

REPLY
sprinter345 | @sprinter345 | Oct 12, 2022
In reply to @dubbscopper "Omg I feel exactly the same and they just switched me telling me side effects wouldn’t..." + (show)
@dubbscopper

Omg I feel exactly the same and they just switched me telling me side effects wouldn’t be as bad- same horrible effects but add hair loss after ine treatment! I git switched to every other week because blood count and side effects... had anyone had sore eyes eye pain or photo sensitivity ??? They said it hardly happens but it’s killing me

Jump to this post

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.

REPLY
1 reply
dubbscopper | @dubbscopper | Oct 12, 2022
In reply to @lfitz "My husband did 4 months of Folfirinox and is now in his 2nd month of gemcitibine..." + (show)
@lfitz

My husband did 4 months of Folfirinox and is now in his 2nd month of gemcitibine and abraxane. He tolerated the Folfirinox much better than this chemo regimen. It has been brutal. No quality of life. Sleeps most of the time. No energy. Can’t eat. Barely drinks. Tumor marker came down from 377 to 204 after the first month. Hopeful it will drop even more after the second month and imaging will also show a decrease in tumor size. If it doesn’t, he will discontinue treatment. I hope you tolerate the treatment. Quality of life is everything at this point.

Jump to this post

Omg I feel exactly the same and they just switched me telling me side effects wouldn’t be as bad- same horrible effects but add hair loss after ine treatment! I git switched to every other week because blood count and side effects... had anyone had sore eyes eye pain or photo sensitivity ??? They said it hardly happens but it’s killing me

REPLY
1 reply
dubbscopper | @dubbscopper | Oct 12, 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

I had chemo that didn’t work for Pancreatic cancer- so the just put me in this and after the first treatment I still had horrendous side effects and the white blood cells were so low they put me in every other week

REPLY
helenar | @helenar | Oct 12, 2022
In reply to @sprinter345 "Thank you Helenar. They say he cannot go back up but it’s because of the trial..." + (show)
@sprinter345

Thank you Helenar. They say he cannot go back up but it’s because of the trial he is in. There have been a lot of trial restrictions but his Dr still wants him to stay in it- no shrinkage but no growth. When his WBC was low he got the Neulasta patch but didn’t have to miss any cycles. Can I ask how old you are? He is 71 and was in really great health when this came out of nowhere. Hope your next scan shows continued improvement and so glad to see the 19-9 down.

Jump to this post

Hi, I am 51 and was diagnosed a week after my 51st birthday. Also out of nowhere! The only time I was in hospital in all of my life, was when I had my c-sections for the births of my 2 girls. I RARELY went to a doctor, can count on my two hands the times I was off sick from work, was on no chronic medication, all and all I was in excellent health.
Then my right leg became sore with swelling, and they suspected cellulitis and treated me for that for 2 weeks. It did not get better and they started with other test and did a CT scan, and whola! - there's a tumor on you pancreas and it has spread to the liver! (2 small lesions)

REPLY
sprinter345 | @sprinter345 | Oct 12, 2022

Thank you Helenar. They say he cannot go back up but it’s because of the trial he is in. There have been a lot of trial restrictions but his Dr still wants him to stay in it- no shrinkage but no growth. When his WBC was low he got the Neulasta patch but didn’t have to miss any cycles. Can I ask how old you are? He is 71 and was in really great health when this came out of nowhere. Hope your next scan shows continued improvement and so glad to see the 19-9 down.

REPLY
1 reply
susanpmadigan | @susanpmadigan | Oct 12, 2022
In reply to @helenar "Wow!!! I also have little or no side effects. I do have some body ache a..." + (show)
@helenar

Wow!!! I also have little or no side effects. I do have some body ache a day or two afterwards, but that's it! I am also still working full day. I work for a family owned Engineering Comp and they are SO good to me. I am working from home, and they don't expect from me to work full day, but I feel good, and it keeps my mind busy!
My CA19-9 count was 3587 when I was diagnosed in March, yesterday my Oncologist phoned me with my latest results and it's on 107 !! I will post an update after my scan on the 24th.
Helena
♥

Jump to this post

What wonderful news news about your count !!! I truly feel that working is the best remedy Your boss sounds like a wonderful guy. My cousins boss is the sane. Maryann had treatment
on Monday and yesterday she had to leave early. Now she is fine again. Please keep me updated. I am glad that you are doing so well with few side effects 😊😊😊😊
Sincerely Susan

REPLY
View MoreView Less
Please sign in or register to post a reply.