Anyone on Gemcitabine with Abraxane? How long? Effective?

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.

Hi Helena
My cousin Maryann is also on Gem/Abraxane and has been on this treatment for 16 months now !!! It has kept her tumor the same size or shrunk it a little. She is able to handle it with few side affects Maryann has nausea for a day or two after treatment and she is tired however the treatment is helping her live her life with her family and grandchildren. In fact she is still working. Naturally she takes off from work a day or two on the week of treatment. Her boss is very understanding and looks out for her. Maryann has her treatment every other week and we always go out for lunch afterwards. Good luck to you. Let us know how the treatment is working Stay positive !
Sincerely Susan

Thank you Leigh, it is SO good to read some positive news. I'm going for my scan on the 24th (then I would have completed 9 sessions of Gem/Abraxane) I am PRAYING that my scan will show positive results. I also lost my hair soon after my 1st session, but it is starting to grow back nicely. Good luck with your treatments and I will keep you in my prayers. Stay strong.
Love
Helena

I was on Gemzar (short name) and Abraxane for about 2 months but got off Abraxine because I had a kidney, lung infection and could not get up one morning so ended up in hospital for IV antibiotics. Now I'm on just Gemzar until scan. First scan showed reduced growth in cancer mets in lung. The pancreas is stable. I was also rundown pre hospital from trip to Hawaii and trip to nieces wedding afterward. The second treatment of Abraxine I lost my hair but growing back with gemzar. I'm 73 with stage 4 pancreas cancer but it has been slow growing. It is a recurrence in lungs after being NED for almost three years. I'm getting treatment at UCLA. Good luck with treatment. leigh

A great photo, suitable for framing!

Hi Helena,
How are you doing on the gemcitibine/abraxane treatment? My husband finished 2 months on that treatment. Brought his ca19-9 down from 488 to 60. We are in Rochester right now. Thought he would be able to have the Whipple surgery yesterday but when the surgeon got in there he found a lymph node low in his abdomen that was positive for cancer. The surgeon had seen it on the Pet scan and it looked suspicious. Unfortunately he is now stage 4 and surgery is no longer an option. We have an appointment today to discuss further chemo options or possibly a clinical trial. Such a frustrating cancer. I hope you are tolerating the chemo.

I have stage III-IV inoperable pancreatic cancer. I started gem/abrax on Sept 1. Came up allergic to abrax with the 2nd infusion. I chose to try a 20% reduction and continued the 3rd infusion with both gem/abrax on the 16th. So far so good. No allergic reaction to date. I feel better every day with more energy.

My husband who was on Gemcitabine/Abraxane for two cycles (3 wks on+1 wk off) has been determined to be allergic to the Gem. After the bleeding ulcer followed by 12 days in hospital for capillary leak syndrome, which was pretty scary, he is on Prednisone for 2 months to control that. He is getting a rest from chemo to rebuild his HB, strength and energy, and then will start a new regimen of Fluorouracil & Irinotecan on Sept 30. Hopefully the cancer will not have re-energized itself and the new drugs will be effective. We are just waiting to see what the new side effects will be, but he's enjoying having an appetite again (even if it is partly steroid-driven) and he's feeling well enough to exercise. Fingers crossed.
Peggy

Thank you, Woodlanddsm- very helpful. They are using lasix, and my husband is trying to exercise the fluid out of his legs. Don't know if that can help, but worth a try. I'm glad to hear the Napoli combo is working for your brother.
Wishing you continued improvement.

My brother was on Gem/Abrax for one year. He started suffering from edema a few months in. The oncologist treated it with lasix but it somehow became a race of which would dominate the situation and Gem/Abrax won. He now has capillary leak syndrome and it will not be going away. It is a horrible side effect and had we known how bad it could become we may have weighed the options more carefully. The G/A was working at lowering his CA 19-9 and that was where our focus was. He's now on the Napoli chemo combo (nanoliposomal irinotecan with flouroucil and folonic acid) and that is working too...at least for now. We hope that it continues for a long time because the side effects are more tolerable. You might want to ask about that for your husband. I'm glad Mayo identified it for you and that from here you can make adjustments. Best to you and yours....