what is the amifostene for? I didn't recieve that.

Thanks
please keep the info comming in.... perhaps it will make sense eventually.

Jordan re amifostene (ethyol): Check it out on wikipedia (This is an excellent source for a lot of these things). Briefly (from the literature): It is a chemoprotectant. It is used to decrease the toxicity of cisplatin. (kidneys). Also it reduces the incidence xerostomia.
It does however also have side effects on its own. .... And it "may" also protect tumor cells, but I do not know if ther is credible evidence for this. After discussing this with the RO we decided not to use it.

Please do not use Wikipedia as a resource for anything that affects your well being. By their own defiition:

Welcome to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia THAT ANYONE CAN EDIT. I am particularly disturbed the word anyone, which means someone who has no clue, an agenda, misinformation passed on to them by their grandmother, or whatever.

Go into the ethyol section and type in that it is purple, or green or whatever.... you have just changed what people coming behind you are going to read. The oversight on all this is highly variable. You want to research something that does not involve your health on it...have at it.

Access the newest news about amifostine on the OCF news site and elsewhere by using the OCF search engine. (Please spell it right with an i....) the OCF site is vetted by the doctors on our board and more. Or go to the NCI site. Information is only as good as the source of the information.

Brian,
I fully agree re wikipedia, it is not a definite resource. I also neglected to point to the selected info that is available via OCF search, which was unintentional and I appologize, it seems silly not to take advantage of it.

Markus

Jordan

The amifostene was a shot to try and protect the saliva glands from the IMRT. I was told it was a 50/50 shot that it would work.

Kevin

Hi Markus,

My husband had 8 weekly treatments of Cisplatin.
They did administer about 800-1000cc of saline prior to and following each treatment to keep him hydrated,as well as him drinking plenty of fluids the next couple of days.
They also administered anti nausea meds along with the "pre" chemo saline bag. They put in magnesium in the post therapy saline bag.(helps to maintain kidney function) His chemo days lasted about 7 hrs.
His weekly Cisplatin doseage was 10mg.
He had no problems with hearing, hair loss, or nausea.
The oncologist recommended doing the 8 weekly treatments because he said some patients aren't able to tolerate the Cisplatin X3. He said some aren't feeling well enough to finish that last one.
We are almost 8 weeks post treatment now.
His taste buds are pretty good now and he eats pretty well and we are looking forward to getting rid of his PEG in a few weeks.
I hope you are doing well.
Vicki

First of all thanks for the info:
This is with respect to frequent, low concentration cisplating use during RT. Results depend on individuals, drug concentration, duration etc. All of these factors are important and accurate info is difficult to obtain. So your milage may vary....

I have had two weekly low dosage cisplatin (30mg/m2) which was tolerated very well. Nausea was not an issue AT AL until day 6 after treatment and then only in the morning. (I did not take any additional anti nausea medicine).
However, 3 days after the initial infusion I got a slight ringing, by the time for the second infusion is was mostly gone (either that or I got used to it). After the second infusion it got worse (still quite tolerable). Nevertheless, we switched to carboplatin...... see also the beginning of the thread.
Once done with the RT I will summarize my experience.

Markus