Anyone have Shortness of Breath related to Lung Cancer treatments?

Hello, Shortness of breath has many causes, so it will be interesting to see what your CT shows. I’ve been taking a TKI/med for 21 months (Alecensa), at the time of my diagnosis my shortness of breath was caused by lymph node swelling in my chest, they were restricting the airway. I received relief in the first week of taking the drug. Each drug is different and the root cause of the shortness of breath can be different too.
Wishing you good news this week, and a long successful run on Gavreto.

Good morning @speedy and welcome to the Lung Cancer Group. I've not heard of Gavreto before. I read up a bit and this is what google has: "GAVRETO is a prescription medicine used to treat certain cancers caused by abnormal rearranged during transfection (RET) genes in: adults with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) that has spread." This is way too scientifically complicated for me to understand.

Did your doctor explain why this Rx was prescribed? Do you see any difference in your breathing?

Gavreto? Alecensa? My husband has had shortness of breath from the onset of his treatment for NSCLC. Can you please tell me more details about these drugs? Are they part of your treatment? What was the determined cause of your SOB? (Understood lymph nodes on airway.) Restriction? Obstruction? No one has mentioned these drugs to him, so info is appreciated. Thanks.

Gavreto sounds like a treatment for the RET mutation of NSCLC…Yes??

-And Alecensa is a treatment for ALK positive NSCLC… I get it-. So they’re not necessarily for SOB-. -Good luck with your treatment 👍.

Thanks for responding. Gavreto is a drug approved by the FDA last December to treat RET fusion nsclc . It is targeted drug designed to attack cancer cells in both of my lungs. SOB has increased in past two weeks.

This drug was designed for patients with RET positive nsclc. Based on what I've been told only 2% of those with nsclc qualify for this targeted drug. Surgery and radiation therapy were ruled out as part of my treatment plan. SOB was the symptom that drove me to get medical help. Stage four lung cancer was diagnosed from that symptom and multiple tests. Thanks for responding.

You are more than welcome- Have you checked the side effects of the drug? I know that you have a CT this week, have you mentioned the increase to your doctor?

yes

I have been on the drug for three months with no significant side effects. Four hundred mg were first prescribed and reduced to three hundred mg due to some fatigue. Mayo wants to see the results of a blood workup and the CT scan this Friday before making additional recommendations.