Lance Armstrongs treatment

[Adrian]

http://tcrc.acor.org/lance.html

I found a interview of him talking at least a month after the treatment and when his tumor markers were normal.

He was about to go in for his first check up, im just wondering did he get any treatment after that? Has it just been smooth sailing for him ever since?

I find it quite amazing that for something so serious, he went through 3 cycles of BEP and 4 cycles of VIP and he was cured.

A miracle?

[Derek12]

actually he went for 1x BEP and 3X VIP.They discontinued the BEP cause of the bleo.His markers started at 109,000 beta HCG,and dropped sharply.He was a "responder" to cisplatin.He never even had the RPLND.I believe he just had a right I/O.After his numbers normalised,as far as his books say,he was done with it.Couple of small complications along the way,port a cath clot,brain surgery,then they found out the lesions were necrotic tissue.

[Adrian]

So because he was a 'responder' to cisplation he ended up being cured in whereas another guy in his situation who didnt respond as well to cisplatin, would be in trouble.

[Derek12]

exactly...my good friend is in that situation

[Adrian]

Ah god i hope im not one of the percentages who are cisplatin refractory. This Testicular cancer thing seems more and more serious as i learn more. Why couldnt i get this when i was 40 or something!

Ahhhh, this still doesnt seem real to me!

[mikeygti]

T/C is serious buisness,no matter to whom it rears it's ugly head,or what age they may be when it happens.........

Best Wishes

[newly-wed]

Did Armstrong have the necrotic tissue removed?

[Adrian]

Yeh sorry mikey, i didnt really think when i was typing. I didnt mean to say it doesnt matter at 40, coz at any age it matters. At 40 theres still quite a bit of the future to do many things.

I just meant to say how at my age (19) it just feels like i got A LOT to lose and at 40 youve mostly accomplished all that you could of have. I havent even started on my dreams yet. 20-30 was the decade where i had so much plans set out. This is just a real shock to me at the moment.

Ive actually started thinking about death. Mortality is facing right in front of me. I cant see much but i can see a little black hole if i look far enough, and that hole might get closer.

The pathology results are something which could determine a lot and this scares me deeply.

[Jens]

Adrian, you got a wonderful surprise installed for yourself, if you think life is almost over at 40+...
It just gets greater and greater!
And don't worry. You will live to see for yourself.

Best wishes
Jens

[Derek12]

yes Lance had the necrtoic tissue removed,by doctor Scott Shapiro at IU,using radio stereostastic (spelling may be wrong)surgery.Luckily most people respond very well to cisplatin or platinum based therapy,epecially in the early stages.even advanced cases can be cured 50-80 percent of the time.the problem with my buddy is he is absolutely refractory to platinum,which most people arent,and very heavily pre treated.he is also 19 years old.im very certain u wont be refractory to platinum,and you may not even need chemotherapy,depending on your pathology reports,and staging.
best of luck to you.

[Karen]

Adrian,
Facing your mortality at 19 is pretty crappy. And hey, I haven't accomplished nearly everthing I wanted to yet....maybe I better up my dose of high fiber cereal (it's good for your colon, ya know!) and get moving (pardon the pun) . Don't be thinking of blackness ahead of you. The initial shock is hard, but this is defeatable! Let us know when you get your pathology and we will help you through this all the way! (And bust you whenever you give us an opening)

[Hopeful]

Hi.

I was reading the postings about folks who are platnium refractory and thought I would add some interesting information.

There are chemos coming available that may help platnium refractory folks. Also, there are other procedures available too, ie Cyberknife or Gamma Knife if the tumors are in the lungs or brain. Cyberknife can be used on lung and brain tumors. It's a direct beam of radiation at the tumor, which they can track in the moving lung. The procedure gets very little of the surrounding tissue.

Hope this info helps.
Patti

[Derek12]

what chemos hopeful???besides gemzar and oxaliplatin,and bms-247550

[Hopeful]

There's some studies going on now with other chemos may or may not help platinum refractory testicular cancer patients. You can find this info on www.pubmed.gov or also find clinical trials at www.clinicaltrials.gov.

Also, if your friend has tumors that have metastasized to the lung or brain, he should look in Cyberknife or Gamma knife procedures. This is not part of the standard protocol treatment for testicular cancer but it may help.

also, if receiving chemo, they may want to try the drug Avastin. It's been approved to use with colon cancer. It does work for people with tumors in the lung from testicular cancer too.

patti

[danebert]

There are few other reports with encouraging results.
If I remember correctly, your friend has already tried high dose TICE. The next treatment is Gemzar/ Oxaliplatinum. The last I know of is IPO
(Irinotecan, Taxol, Oxaliplatinum). Einhorn at Indiana University has a clinical trial with Epirubicin which has moderate activity in refractory germ cell tumors. There are other treatments off clinical trial, out of country, such as nedaplatin( platinum compound) and irinotecan. I only know of one patient treated with Avastin after relapse from high dose chemotherapy. They combined HD chemo with avastin and acheived a partial remission for 4 months. THere are only a few options for your friend. Surgery to remove any masses can acheive 10-30% long term survival , but only if the disease is localized to the retroperitoneum. THis was of the few treatments that seems to last in long term disease free survival. Einhorn has published a report on this topic in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Oral etoposide followed by surgery has caused some suprizing results . The final option for your friend is to enter a phase I trial for solid tumors. These trials aren't specific to TC but it's possible some will take your friend. Go to www. clinicaltrials.gov and type in " refractory germ cell tumors" in the condition box.