Hi,

I have right tonsil SCC (2.5cm) which spread to one lymph node in my neck (4.5cm). Have had tonsillectomy and modified neck dissection. About to start radiation treatment. They have offered cisplatin but have said this is optional and up to me. I'm not sure the benefits are worth the side-effects. This is complicated by the fact that I have Hep C. Any views?

Chris

Hi Chris,
I had Cisplatin and radiation and I too have hep C. They monitored my liver function very carefully and it had no effect on it. Cisplatin is a highly toxic drug but it can extend the survival odds as much as 13-16%, IMHO, well worth the risk.

Hi Chris,

I had radiation followed 7 months later with chemo for a reoccurrance. Taxol & Carboplatin. Have no side effects from either. Wishing you good luck as you continue your treatment.

Danny Boy

Chris
Whatever they can throw at this cancer the better your chances. My opinion,Do It.
Take care
Marica

hi chris go with your gut feeling. my opinion take whatever is offered you well get through it its called SURVIVAL, GOOD LUCK regards maz

Chris-
I had cisplatin and radiation after surgery. Wasn't fun and I was very sick but would do it again in a heart beat if it gave me a better chance to kill this beast. It is survivable and it is better to go at it with everything you can the first time around. Best of wishes to you on your journey. - Kris

Hi Chris, I also had Cisplatin, basically the oncologist said my chance of survival was 40% without, 60% with, so I did the logical thing.

Only side effect during treatment was a little jumpy stomach the day after, but nothing that couldn't be taken care of with Tums or Tagamet. Other side effect was my sperm count dropped to zero, so having kids is out of the question for the moment.

Bob

Chris, even if it is just 1% increase in survival, it is worth taking. I also had cisplatin along with radiation to treat my tonsil cancer. My tumors in tonsil and neck lymph nodes were far larger than yours.The use of cisplatin was not an option but a must for me.In fact , in Hong Kong, the combination of both chemo and radiation has become the recommended treatment recently. For side effects, of course there are some but different people may react differently. I didn't need any surgery after the chemo-radiotherapy because they had killed all my cancer cells already.

Karen

Chris, welcome to the site. Sorry you had to find us. I had 35 rad and 3 cisplatin chemo treatments after my tonsilectomy and before my neck dissection for swollen lymph nodes in right side. Had no side effects from chemo other than lowering of white blood cell count. No upset stomach, or any other problem. I did have problem with the anti-nausia meds they gave me before the chemo, but they switched me to another drug and no more problems. We are all different, but I had no problems with cisplatin. And I think it helped to stop any mets to other locations as the cisplatin will kill even microscopic cancer cells that are undetectable with current scanning technology. Hope this helps. Good luck.

Chris,

My daughter had surgery for base of tongue SCC and then, on the doctor's recommendation, had radiation without any chemo and she is no longer on this earth. We will never know if adding chemo to the treatment regimen would have saved Heather, but IMHO, it is best to fight this with everything you can and that means RAD and chemo.

You might also want to ask about a Taxol/Carboplatin combination like Danny Boy had. I believe that has worked well for many OCF members. Although maybe Taxol/Carboplatin is the choice for chemo alone when dealing with a recurrence (when you can't do more RAD) and Cisplatin the choice in combination with RAD. I don't know that for sure, though. It's just a thought. But it may be worth asking about.

Rosie

that's fairly conlusive then! Thanks for all your help.

Chris,

Welcome to the neighborhood! I, too, has Cisplatin and I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy, UNLESS, he is going through radiation for SCC! You need every possible thing in your favor to beat this horrible beast. I HAD hep C, too, and just finished the Interferon/Ribavirin treatment when the cancer was diangosed. I have been undetectable since May 2002 except on my last blood draw it appears to have resurfaced. The doctor has said either I am the first known case to reappear after being undetectable for almost 3 years or something interfered with the test. I guess I will know in the next couple of weeks. I really expected the stress of chemo and radiation to trigger a relapse but to my surprise it didn't (or hasn't until they can prove otherwise).

Best wishes for you and your upcoming treatment plan. It may not be easy but it has been done by many before you.

Ed

I'm currently on the Cisplatin treatment. For me, I've only had two out of the seven treatments, which is a once a week thing for me. It's not a curative thing, but sort of a cancer wash that helps the radiation therapy attack the cancer cells. Or at least that's the way it's been explained to me. So I'm getting like a 20% dose of the stuff once a week.

As for how I'm taking it.... I'm usually in the chemo infusion ward for four to five hours prior to radiation. Sometimes I mess around on the computer, my laptop. Both times so far, I just curl up in the chair and take a nap.

Only bad side effect has been days after chemo... three days, when I had a nausea episode on the weekend. From now on I just make sure to take my compazine tablets so I don't tempt the fates.

Good luck to you.

Jen

Hi Chris, I too had Cisplatin when I had my
cancer. Please go for it and do everything the
Docs say. I'm glad I did even if I don't have
teeth on the bottom anymore. At least I'm still
here since 1990. Good Luck.