Re: Radioactive Antibodies: outlook?

From: Steph (steph_at_vancouver.island)
Date: 02/13/05 

Date: Sun, 13 Feb 2005 20:02:13 GMT

<JF@NoName.com> wrote in message
news:_3MPd.1764348$B07.266420@news.easynews.com...
>>> I've gone through the standard surgery & platinum/taxane
>>> therapy. I responded relatively well (ca125 at 18 and 12
>>> after 5th and 6th chemos). But now, 2.5 months after my
>>> 6th and last chemo, CA125 reads as 79. (CT scan to follow
>>> soon, but expected to be clear since I was clear even at
>>> diagnosis).
>>>
>>>
>>> So the choice is: start 2nd round chemo right away
>>> (Topotecan? Doxil?) or take a 1 month detour to try this
>>> first.
>>>
>>>
>>> Any advice?
>>>
>>>
>>
>> There is a third option - if you are feeling well, don't take
>> any treatment until there is a reason to.
>
> I understand that this is what some doctors recommend, and I
> understand that since there is no clear evidence that early
> treatment is better, it is an option.
>
> However, logic dictates that early treatment is better.
>

Logic may be a poor guide. And unfortunately, after surgery and multiple
chemotherapy, you don't have "early" diesase.

> Earlier stage disease responds better to chemo than later
> stage disease. Also, the fundamental theory of biology,
> evolution, suggests that the more cancer cells there are,
> the higher the odds that one of them will have a mutation
> which will render it immune to chemo. Since cancer grows
> more or less exponentially, earlier treatment should be
> better.
> I certainly wouldn't wait until bacteria had taken
> over my body before starting antibiotics.
>
>
> So in my mind, treatment is the only way to go.
>
>
> The question I'm left with: is it worth it to 'waste' a
> month on a treatment which may not help at all (the phase I trial),
> or should I go straight to 2nd line chemo (which also may not
> help!).
>
>
>
>
>
>
>> It depends on the trial, but if they have said it's a single
>> injection, I suspect that's it.
>
> It just seems strange to me that if the response is shown to
> be good, they wouldn't try to give another injection. To both
> satisfy their curiosity, get data, and out of compassion!
>
>
> But I guess that there are also regulatory hurdles that
> stop them...

A trial is designed and then accepted by an ethics committee - they can't
change it on the fly

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