Stay the course

Not much to report from today’s visit to Rush.  Pretty much the same results as it’s been for the last several visits.  The CT scan continues to show slight growth in the number of lesions and the size of some of them, but nothing the doctor is concerned about.  Blood work shows a few things out of normal range as it has for the past several reports but nothing widely out of the normal parameters.  Chemo went okay. 

We continue to stay the course and wait for the FDA approval on the new drug Dr. B thinks will work for me.

Prospects on the Horizon

I had my regular check up today with an MRI to see how the brain is doing.  Everything is clear and all is well in the noggin.  The blood work was also normal across all but a couple measures and those were just slightly out of normal range.

We talked to Dr. Bonomi at some length about Opdiva, the first immune therapy drug for lung cancer and AZD9291, the 3^rd generation of an EGFR inhibitor like Tarceva.  The Opdiva has just been approved now for squamous non-small cell lung cancer but not for adenocarcinoma like I have.  The hope is that it will be approved for that as well in the next couple months.  However, Dr. Bonomi said the Opdiva seems to work better with the squamous type cancer because it has a lot more mutations than the adenocarcinoma.  He thinks the 3^rd generation Tarceva will work better for me and is a better match for my condition, especially given the great response I had to Tarceva originally.  That drug should hopefully be coming out before the end of the year.  If that doesn’t work, then he would try the Opdiva with me.  So I guess I will sit tight and stay with the current treatment a while longer.  I am feeling good and the cancer in the lungs is growing at a slow enough rate that Dr. B feels we are safe to continue on this path for quite a while.

In the meantime, Doug and I just returned from a wonderful trip on the Danube river boat cruise.  We went to Budapest, Vienna, Melk, Passau, Regensburg, and Nuremberg. The towns were charming and the architecture and history were amazing. After the boat trip, we took a side trip to Prague and fell in love with it.  I’ve attached a panoramic view of one of the city plazas that I took with my iPhone in Prague.  I have posted over 300 pictures from our trip that you can view using this link to Shutterfly. 

Waiting for the new drug

It was a long day at Rush, but things are pretty much the same.  This latest lung scan shows continued growth in the size and number of tumors in the lung, although still at a slow pace. 

 Dr. Bonomi thinks there might be a chance that the 3^rd generation EGFR drug might come out as soon as June.  He will not hesitate to put me on it.  That will be in a pill form so, in addition to potentially attacking the cancer rather than trying to hold it bay, I will hopefully be able to get off the IV chemo when this drug get approved.  Additionally, the side effects are supposed to be milder than the 1st generation of Tarceva I have been on. 

As for the rest of the Rush visit, blood work still looks pretty good and chemo was fine.  As always, glad to be done with it for a while.

 

Thanks for checking in.
 

Nothing is Happening in the Brain...

I think most people who know me would agree I have proven this at one time or another!  But I am referring here to the fact that there are no lesions found in the brain once again. 

The Tarceva is still doing its job in there.  I had an MRI that looked just like the last one, which is completely clear.  Blood work was mostly normal and was similar to prior reports.  Good news overall. 

When we were back at home tonight, I received a text message from Irene, our oncology nurse, that said a press release came out on Sunday that Merck has filed with the FDA for their drug, Keytruda to treat melanoma and lung cancer.  This is one of the immunotherapy drugs we’ve been watching and waiting to get approved.  I’ve attached a link to a Wall Street Journal article with the press release.  http://www.wsj.com/articles/mercks-keytruda-shows-improved-survival-odds-for-melanoma-patients-1429448169 . This has a LOT of promise.  It is possible I might be able to go on this (or one of the rival drugs that other Rx companies are developing that are similar) sometime midyear.  Cross your fingers!   J