Question on 2nd line chemo

[jennys]

Hi all,
My brother started his second line chemo last friday and is doing extremely well so far
He was told that he was having TIP which from all I have read this is Taxol, infisfomide and cisplatin; My brother's chemo is Taxol; Infisfomide and Etoposide; he will have this for 5 days then 3 weeks off; then he will do this chemo again for another 5 days followed by another 3 weeks off; after that he will have the high dose chemo with stem cell replacement.

Does this sound right?
Is there much difference in the TIP copared with the one he is having?
I'm just a bit confused so will appreciate any answers you may be able to give.

Thanx again in advance
Jenny

[Hopeful]

Hi Jenny.

They are very similar treatments. If need be, ask the oncologist about the exact difference. They usually do a round of TIP or VIP before HDC/stem cell just to kind of 'shock' the cancer. The taxol is a chemo the cancer isn't used to and will knock the numbers down much lower than chemo's he's been on before

Also, if you have questions, please let me know. My husband had TIP, vip, gemzar/taxol and HDC.

sending you the best vibes.
Patti

[jennys]

Hi Patti,

Thanx for your reply,
I have heard from Robert and he has suggested that my brother might be getting etoposide instead of cisplatin because they might think his cancer is resistant to cisplatin....

My brother (Gerard), has just finished his 1st 5 day cycle and so far he is feeling pretty good but there is a good chance I will take you up on your offer of support as side effects kick in.....he has a great sense of humour (for someone who has been thru the absolute worse so far) and a real positive, gun-ho attitude....all the things mentally he needs to kick this tc to kingdom come!

I am sorry to hear that your husband lost his battle last year that is what makes your offer of support even more special.....you must truly be an angel for helping us on this board out like this...

Thankyou so very much
Take care
Jenny

[jennys]

Update on my brother

Hi all,

My brother finished his 2nd round of chemo last week; they decided to use cistplatin in his second one because they weren't happy with his blood tests (hcg was 19000 before 1st round and came down to 13000); he was pretty lucky and only suffered mild side affects this time.....I have just spoken to him and he was waiting for a ct scan, he said that depending on ct scan and blood tests taken next week the onc will decide if stem cell replacement is an option....meaning if it doesn't look like this chemo has worked, they will not be doin the HDC.....does this sound right?? If it hasn't worked....what next?? Has anybody got an idea of what they do if they can't to HDC?

Thanx in advance for any info
Jenny

[jennys]

Hey Jenny,

Where is he being treated again?

He said "if this chemo didn't work, they would not be doing the HDC "?

Hi Robert,
He is being treated at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Australia and yes they said that if these two rounds of chemo didn't work they would not go ahead with the HDC.....I can't understand this as I thought that the whole idea of these 2 rounds was to get his HCG levels down as far as possible so he had a better chance of the HDC working....is this right?

I am so worried for him as I thought that this was the best chance at a cure for him.....

Jenny

[Scott]

We're praying that better news follows soon. Any word on the CT scan results?

[Scott]

Something about Robert's post makes me think of the athlete's oath, "Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt." It applies to the battle with cancer, as well.