Re: Does anyone know anything about Renal cells?

Dear Ms. S,

My apologies for the delayed reply as I no longer check my e-mail as frequently as I used to. I've tried a total of 6 different drug regimens in the last two and a half years since my original diagnosis, not including multiple tries at surgery and radiotherapy. I first underwent 5 heavy cycles of cisplatin and etoposide (summer of '04 - I was 22), which shrunk the orignal tumor considerably and allowed for my first attempt at a resection. When my recurrence became official in the summer of '05, I tried Octreotide for 5 weeks, and switched to carboplatin and taxol because of increased tumor pain. This new regimen failed to work, and for 3 months I attempted a holistic approach based around meditation.

When that and a second surgery failed to work, I tried Sutent (Feb '06 - May '06). I got mixed results from the Sutent: smaller tumors were successfully stabilized, but my largest tumor continued to grow. So I switched to Alimta and Avastin, a regimen that stabilized my tumors after a month, but which my cancer became resistent to approximately 2 months later. I have beeng on Gemzar since November '06, and I have not gotten a CT scan yet to determine its effectiveness.

I hope this information helps your husband in some way, though each thymic carcinoma case is a little different and might not necessarily respond in the same manner as other cases. If you could share with me briefly your husband's experience with various drug regimens, I'd sincerely appreciate it.

Best of luck,
Krys
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