I am not going to get involved really in the whole Erbitux vs Cisplatin convo.

However I am going to say to the original poster. I fully believe in new trial drugs, it is the way we get new treatments, and sometimes the work for some people. However, you have a tried and true treatment that works well against the type of cancer your hubby has. As a first line of combat against cancer I would choose the known. It may be more toxic, it may make you sick, you may even have a bad reaction to it (some do - but then they generally switch you to carbo) but overall it is effective and I personally am not willing to risk my life or the life of someone I care for on a drug that is still in trials. I might if the tried and true has failed but not as a first line.

best of luck - I know the whole back and forth has probably muddied the waters.

I can say based on reading what you have written likely the reason they are suggesting Erbitux is because he has no nodal involvement that is apparent on a scan. But Erbitux is not without it's issues either. A friend who's ex had it had a horrible reaction to only a few doses and has had issues ever since.

A drug is a drug, and since we are all individuals we respond differently.

take care.