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?

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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)

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

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.

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)

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.

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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.

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)

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.

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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)

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