Has anyone heard of Herbitox as a chemo drug? Doctor wants to use this on my father if it is approved by the insurance company. I tried to do a search on the internet for this and I can't find anything I can use or understand.
Vickie M
Hi Vickie. This is not the first time I've seen someone on this site refer to Herbitox. Unfortunately, I can't find anything useable on the Internet about Herbitox. I searched the ACS (American Cancer Society) web site under their Guide to Cancer Drugs and there is no listing for Herbitox. Are you sure the docs are not talking about Herceptin?
Anyone else have any luck with this?
-Brett
Brett,
I am sure it is Herbitox, I wrote it down during the discussion. On Friday I will ask the "Professionals" more about it. Will post A.S.A.P. Brett, I noticed you are undergoing Taxol with Carbo, the same as prescribed for my father. Did first round yesterday. How are you doing since the treatment?
Vickie M
Brett,
I forgot to state that the doctor said this was a new drug.
Vickie M
The drug is "Erbitux". The following are parts of an article in my local Gannett paper printed on June 6, 2004; It was approved in February for treatment of Colon cancer and studies released at the Oncology conference in June "showed remarkable benefit against tumors of the tongue, tonsils and voice box". The article references a company sponsored study of patients with Head and neck cancers that had not spread beyond the neck which was conducted by a doctor, James Bonner, from the university of Alabama. A Dr. Mayer of Dana-Farber is quoted as saying, "Nobody anticipated this degree of positive outcome." This should provide sufficient information for an internet search. Let me know if you need more info.
Hi Vickie,
Actually, the radiation was much tougher on me than the chemo. I had 6 week chemo induction therapy: One treatment once a week. I finished the chemo therapy in early October 2003 and I finished radiation therapy at the end of November 2003. I am happy to say the numbness in my fingers from the Taxol has resolved and my hair has come back as well, although a little curlier and coarser. In terms of my response to the therapy, I responded quite well to the chemo with noticable shrinkage of my tumors before I moved onto radiation.
-Brett
Gre1,
You were right it is Erbitux. But after researching this drug, I don't think it's the right one for my father. First problem, it costs around $17,000 per month, and he needs 6 months of treatment. Next, some side effects were difficulty in breathing and possible swelling of the tongue. Well that cancelled it for me. He can't open his mouth a full inch, and he has enough facial/throat swelling already.
Thanks to all for your input.
Vickie M
they're starting my sister on radiation + erbitux = irradiating on two spots + weekly infusion of erbitux. she hasn't had the chemo yet. will report on her reactions after the first dose is given.
gita
I also have been investigating Erbitux or Cetuximab. Dana Farber won't give it to me and I'm all set up for radiation there so I hope Carboplatinum and Taxol make me a long-term survivor instead. I tried to call another doc who was quoted at a June press conference saying it will change the practice of head and neck cancer therapy. They won't let me talk to him. He's quoted all over the world so they have to protect him.
I do have an article by J.A. Bonner - Abstract #5507, but I don't know the source other than it was presented at the 2004 ASCO Annual Meeting. My sister-in-law found it for me.
Nannygranny 6
You might also search under IMC-C225, which was its pre- FDA approval name. This is the drug that contributed to all the Imclone trouble for Martha Stewart. It's a EGFR inhibitor similar in action to Iressa (aka ZD-1839) There's a pretty informative article on the ACS website date May 2004. They're saying that it has shown some pretty remarkable result in conjunction with Radiation in some pretty small studies (15 subjects), but this is the second EGFR inhibitor I've read about showing these kind of results, the other being Iressa.
Chuck
Does anyone know if there is a test to determine if an individual is expressing EGF (?epidermal or epithelial growth factor) or has a tumor that has the receptors for it? It seems to me those are the tumors Erbitux would specifically hit.
nannygranny6
The data that they have acquired with Iressa, which also targets the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), is that it only works 10% of the time. 90% have no benefit. These studies were done with lung cancer patients (which it was designed for) with adenocarcinoma and only as a last resort after conventional forms of treatment have failed. It has shown very dramatic results in some patients. They are trying it with H&N patients. I have no idea of the success rates.
I called IMCLONE on this drug when I had my second dx in July 2001. I think they or the oncologist told me that the success rate for H&N patients was about 25% when combined with radiation. They had been running clinical trials at the time but they had just closed at Penn and I couldn't have more radiation so abandoned the idea. I opted for surgery. There had also been an article earlier in the year in the NY Times on the success of UC225, as it was called then, on its success in both cholorectal and H&N cancers.
I don't know what the recent trials have revealed.
Eileen