HER2 Support Group Forums - View Single Post - ~Too Many Brain Mets To Count~Mighty Oak's Saga Continues...

Emmay · 06-14-2009, 08:36 PM

Dear Marie,

In April '08 my sister's MRI looked very bad -- brain mets appeared to be suddenly growing very quickly and spreading in new areas, and she'd already had 2 brain surgeries, Whole Brain Radiation, many Cyberknife treatments, chemos etc etc (see history of her treatment below). Her neuro-oncologist and her breast cancer oncologist did their best to come up with something new that might work. They put her on CPT-11 (Irinotican) plus Avastin, and her response under that therapy was remarkable -- ~90% of met activity in brain cleared after a month, then all clear for a full year.

[Unfortunately she developed systemic mets in April '09 which forced a change in her treatment (she is currently on Herceptin every week and Carboplatin (3 weeks on, 1 wk off) and recovering from a hairline fracture in her hip]...

There's some chance DFCI might not consider CPT-11 + Avastin an acceptable therapy, but I know you and your dear Ed are praying for some other option right now, and that combo worked remarkably well for my sister for a full year. Good luck tomorrow and God bless you both -- you are in all of our prayers.

Emmay

06-14-2009, 08:36 PM	#73
Emmay Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Boston Posts: 66	Dear Marie, In April '08 my sister's MRI looked very bad -- brain mets appeared to be suddenly growing very quickly and spreading in new areas, and she'd already had 2 brain surgeries, Whole Brain Radiation, many Cyberknife treatments, chemos etc etc (see history of her treatment below). Her neuro-oncologist and her breast cancer oncologist did their best to come up with something new that might work. They put her on CPT-11 (Irinotican) plus Avastin, and her response under that therapy was remarkable -- ~90% of met activity in brain cleared after a month, then all clear for a full year. [Unfortunately she developed systemic mets in April '09 which forced a change in her treatment (she is currently on Herceptin every week and Carboplatin (3 weeks on, 1 wk off) and recovering from a hairline fracture in her hip]... There's some chance DFCI might not consider CPT-11 + Avastin an acceptable therapy, but I know you and your dear Ed are praying for some other option right now, and that combo worked remarkably well for my sister for a full year. Good luck tomorrow and God bless you both -- you are in all of our prayers. Emmay __________________ Emmay - My sister's history: 6/03 Her2+,ER-PR-Breast Cancer, IIb, 7/03 lumpec. rt.brst 9/03 Begin chemo-AC+T 2/04 Mastectomy for local recurrence 3/04 Begin Herceptin, 5/04 Rad to mastec.site 9/04 Recurring Headaches=brain mets 10/04 Craniotomy #1 - rem. 3 br. mets, 11/04 WBR 2/05 Begin Lapatinib(Tykerb) Clinical Trial 5/05 Craniotomy #2 - remove largest brain mets 7/05 Stereotactic Radiation to 2-3 brain mets 10/05 - 3/07 CyberKnife Radiation Treatments for sm brain mets as they arose. Cont. Herceptin 5/07 Begin Temodar+Sorafenib for brain mets 2/08 Begin Tykerb(Lapatinib)+Xeloda for br. mets 5/08 MRI&Biopsy shows ext.new disease, some necrosis 5/08 Begin CPT-11(Irinotecan)+Avastin for br.mets 6/08-4/09 MRIs look great! cont. Herceptin 3/09 Stop CPT-11, brain CTclear-some nausea,backpain 4/09 Scans=pleura,liver,bone mets. New Rx Herceptin+Avastin+Xeloda 6/09 new Rx Carboplatin+Herceptin