The 3 mega dose have been used for a longer time.... so there is more data on it.
If you have any data that directly compare 7 vs 3 applications for H&N cancer together with radiation, then I would be interested to know where that is. The only clinical trial that I found was the European and US studies published in 2004 that used 3x cisplatin in conjunction with radiation.

In many cases the 3 dose option is now not on the table at all, regardless how old and fit you are. Form a pharamacokinetic point of view, especially if you consider the synergism with the daily radiation, the 7 doses make a hell of a lot more sense.

M

Thank you all very much. What a great resource. I'll share it with my husband. God Bless.

I had the 3 doses of Cisplatin. The hearing test indicate some hearing loss at high frequency but I don't notice. I had no other physical problems with it. I did Chemo concurrent with Rad, so the Chemo days were long but I was able to work on the computer, read, walk around while they did the chemo and the other bags. There protocol was to do 3-4 days worth of IV's after Cisplatin. Can't remeber all the stuff..Potasium,etc. Everyone reacts differant but I didn't have much of a problem. I don't know about any weekly vs 3 times comparison studies.

I had induction chemo 6 weeks of taxol Erbitux and carboplatin.
I then had 7 eeks of radiationwith doiuble sessions on fridays
I had Cisplatin during radiation daily mon-fri on weeks 1,4,and 7 when i asked back then my doc said it was the new a withthe best results but ihavent read anyneelse having Cisplatin dailey like that. By the way i had no problems.

Well mine sounds different than the rest. We couldn't start radiation right away due to teeth removal, so I had induction chemo of Cisplatin and Taxotere. Three weeks later I started daily radiation and another Cisplatin. I had two more Cisplatin doses, three weeks apart. With the chemo I had Emend, an anti-nausea drug that worked incredibly well! I had what I called queasiness for a day or so after each treatment. I never got sick from the chemo. I lost my hair due to the Taxotere and I have permanent ringing in the ears and high frequency hearing loss from the Cisplatin. I had these symptoms but recovered from the first three treatments but the fourth caused the permanent damage.

Chuck,

I lost my HF hearing after ONLY 3. Man I don't think I could have handled 4 Cis' and the Emends didn't work for me after Cis #2.

BTW did they test you for HPV?

Did you have a ND?

Haven't checked back for a while. The cancer did come back positive for HPV. What is ND?

ND = neck dissection (removal of lymph nodes in the neck to check for spread).

No ND. It was orginally in the plan, but after treatment they changed their mind.

The three treatment plan with Cisplatin was pretty much the gold standard for many years. I read a report that 2 would work as well. Lately they have been doing smaller and more frequent doses, more than likely due to the nephrotoxicity (kidney damage) aspect. It is also easier to manage the nausea with smaller doses. Cisplatin is some nasty stuff. Be SURE to stay hydrated to protect your kidneys. The drug is also more efficacious when you are properly hydrated.