Tell me about your experience with Erbitux. I will start treatment with it next week for 8 weeks.

I had cisplatin as did alot of OCF members. The only info I know about Erbitux is that it seems to give a rash to alot of people. Is this given weekly?

You might want to do a search. Both here and on the main pages of OCF. Here the search function is over toward the top right of the forum page.

Good luck tomorrow! Drink lots of water. Take a book or your kindle along. Chemo days can drag along. Some people watch tv or play cards.

Yes, it's given weekly through an IV. I'll do a search and see what I find.

Joel

Let me repeat the post I just sent to Sandy who is considering a clinical trial with Erbitux.

[quote]I was not in a clinical trial but did have the full 8 Erbitux treatments. IMO, Erbitux is like that nursery rhyme: [quote]When it's good, it's very very good, and when it's bad, it's horrid.[/quote] You will probably need to have someone drive you to and from the chemo TX for at least the last 4 so bear that in mind in making your decision.

My feelings are mixed on Erbitux as it did not stop my cancer from coming back and my MO decided that my tumor was resistant to Erbitux so the second time around switched me to Cisplatin. I never got the "acne rash" but I did have the worst case of radiation dermatitis my CCC has ever seen as a result of the Erbitux. That is a worse case scenario as none of the other patients getting it in my waiting room had more than the acne rash.

I was ecstatic when I was told I would not have to do the platinum based chemos and could use the new wonder drug Erbitux. Subsequently they have discovered that Erbitux simply does not work for colon cancer with some people due to their genetics. While there remains some scientific controversy on this, assessment for EGFR expression is now required for use in colorectal cancer, but not in head & neck cancer. IMO, there is a similar mechanism for head & neck cancer but there are no biomarkers or tests yet to determine the unfortunate minority like myself for which Erbitux does not work.

The odds are it will work for you, so go for it.[/quote]
Charm

Ask your doc or the nurses tomorrow about avoiding the sun. I would think that since a rash is pretty common with this type of chemo that the sun might aggravate this.

Hey Joel - I had 6 weeks of Erbitux along with Cisplatin and Taxotere - the Erbitux is "doing it's job" when it results in acne on chest, back, neck, face and chin. It was tough for me - I think it contributed to the mucousits I had as a result of radiation - had to have the mask cut open at the lips because they were so swollen. All medical staff promised it would all heal up and go away - and it has. I'm 3 weeks out and I think the texture of my skin is not quite "normal" but other than that - ALL the redness, rash and open areas are all healed.


Would I do it again? If it gets those cancer cells- then hell yes!
Take good care,
Jennifer

hello Joel
Cisplatin + Erbitus+amniphostine were the drugs I was given, * weeks. Amniphostine was every day for protection of slaiva glands, Cisplatin and Erbitux once a week. It is a std protocol at the oncology group I went to. I did get minor rash, some get it much worse. I think it was approved for H&N cancer several years ago. There must be a good reason for that. I was lucky and tollerated it well. And most importantly, still cancer fre after 18 months
Good luck
Steve

I did Cisplatin first, every 21 days times three. After that, Erbitux weekly for 6-7 weeks. The Cisplatin sessions were 'long' days, seven hours in infusion. Erbitux only took a couple of hours. Erbitux was much easier on me than Cisplatin, but I was also doing 35x radiation during the Erbitux, and to me the radiation was worse than either Cisplatin or Erbitux. I did get the 'rash' from Erbitux, but it was not as bad as the 'burn' from radiation. I thought Erbitux was a breeze compared to the other treatments.

Recently an RO speaking to our local OC support group expressed a preference for the "Weekly" concurrent chemo regiment (i.e. Cisplatin or Carbo with or without Erbitux).

The impression that he left was that the three dose regiment was a more cost effective approach with better overall patient throughput and it has become sort of a norm with most MO's. But, in their experience, patients generally have an easier time on the weekly regiment and data suggests it is as effective..

BIO: Radiology Group: RMG/CyberKnife SD.
This RO's new patient load is >100 OC cases per/yr.
They treat patients from Kaiser HMO and he is on Kaiser's CCC H&N Tumor Board.
Their RT systems for H&N are impressive: 2011 VarianX RapidArc IG-IMRT systems, equipped with Philips SmartArc inverse planning (just qualified last month)).

My father just finished 5 out of 7 Erbitux infusions yesterday. He developed the bad acne rash 8 days after his first infusion. They actually skipped one of the weeks and put him on doxycycline to clear it up a little. From afar, the rash looks like a dark suntan. Up close, you can see the rash - it's on his face, neck, chest, and back. Funny though, it stays away from his eye area - looks like he's been wearing big circle sun glasses.

Pretty? Not at all - he is very self conscious about it. Manageable? For him, so far, definitely. With his Erbitux, they also infuse Benedryl and steroids. The steroids have kept him from also developing a very bad headache. He also uses Benedryl liquid and cream to keep the itch at bay at home.

For my father, his vanity has been his biggest obstacle. He never wanted to leave the house. He's better about it now, but does still struggle.

Good luck to you Joel.