My brother, with Stage IV tongue cancer, has been treated now for over a year. First he had surgery, then a neck dissection revealed cancerous lymph nodes which were removed, followed by 37 radiation treatments and chemo.

He's 8 weeks out of the radiation therapy. A tumor beneath his chin came back positive--to which they were going to perform surgery+targetted radiation. He was scheduled for that tomorrow. But a needle biopsy on the other side of his neck revealed more cancer.

So they will start another regimen of chemo plus these tarceva pills. Does anyone know of this drug, or has anyone taken it with successful results? I'm afraid the doctors are running out of options and we are all very frightened. This is a fairly new drug (Nov 2004), so I'd appreciate any info anyone can provide.

Thanks,
Minick

P.S. He is not at a CCC, and refuses to seek another opinion, feeling he's with his medical team "til the end." How do we deal with this negative attitude??