Has anyone had this chemo? and any information on it as far as side effects and how many TX's. My father's oncologist is suggesting this with rad TX's. The oncologist did not tell us how many tx's of this chemo he just set it up and is expecting my father to just do it. We are considering a second opinion based on the fact my dad has a really bad heart in the equasion now. How will he handle it, how will the quality of his life be? any info would be appreciated.

Hey Ceazar- I had Erbitux along with my rads. It was my understanding that they like to do a loading dose before radiation starts and then weekly through the remainder of radiation - I'd be curious as to why they're thinking of adding it now after your dad's had a month or rads already.
Anyways - it specifically targets squamous cells so it's different than most other chemo's. The expected side effects are adolescent like acne and rashes to the chest and back. I had a particularly strong response to the drug - very painful and swollen chin, face, lips and it was so red it was almost purple. It was hard to go out in public - I was not being self-concious - it was very noticable. I remember thinking for a while during treatment that no one would know there was something really wrong with me if it weren't for that damned Erbitux rash! So- long story short - the side effects sucked but were not horrible. I would do it again. My face totally healed up with in 2 weeks of the end of treatment - now if my hair would just grow back(not Erbitux's fault - taxotere did that!)
Good luck to you and your Dad!

Thanks, My dad has not had any Rad tx's yet only one dose of 3 chemo meds Cisplatin, 5fu and something called Tam something. Then 3 weeks after the infusion he was going in for his 2nd round and had a heart attack. I'm just wondering if this is going to stress him out or if it will give him a little longer. He has a bad cancer and now a bad heart! We are thinking about quality of life at this point. Any advice?

I completely understand looking at things from a quality of life perspective. I had a very strong response to the Erbitux- most everyone has some sort of rash but it varies in degree. What I found was that the rash got especially bad and painful for 2-3 days after the infusion and then it would improve some before it was time for the next infusion. It did get worse with each week- I skipped my last dose because I thought my chin was going to explode and fall off and it got better very quickly after stopping. So...talk with your docs, but perhaps he can start and see how he responds - if it gets to the point that quality of life is impacted then perhaps he can stop it before the full course is done. He may just get a rash and sail through the full course without too much trouble.
Good luck!

Erbitux and other highly targeted therapies are discussed on this OCF web site main page

http://oralcancerfoundation.org/treatment/targeted_therapies.htm

Dad is doing good, scan was in early Sept and they said TX did what it was suppose to do and he will get another scan in early Jan. Happy New Year! He is blessed he has a few more less stressfull months to him self. Sorry it took so long to respond.