Re: High Dose Tykerb Experiment - wish me luck!
 

To lovely Courtney -- Thank you for being a pioneer.

Re: High Dose Tykerb Experiment - wish me luck!
 

Every 3 weeks I will be flying to Denver... the doc is TOP NOTCH and I love the clinic there. Feels very caring and inviting.

Re: High Dose Tykerb Experiment - wish me luck!
 

Brenda
Well done with the trial! I was only thinking today that it seemed ages since I read a post from you.
Glad those pesky mets have been zapped again and that there are no new ones.
I am really hoping that these 'trials' are magic bullets for you and Courtney

Hugs
Ellie

Re: High Dose Tykerb Experiment - wish me luck!
 

Best of luck to you Courtney and Brenda, both going
into new treatments. I will be thinking of you both.
patb

Re: High Dose Tykerb Experiment - wish me luck!
 

Brenda, that fresh mountain air can't hurt! Best of luck on the journeys and the trial.
ma

Re: High Dose Tykerb Experiment - wish me luck!
 

Sounds like a great way to start this new year off! Taking charge of the direction of your treatment. I am so impressed with your doctor and that he is listening to your needs! Hugs!

Re: High Dose Tykerb Experiment - wish me luck!
 

Good for you !!!!!!!!!! Let us know how it all works out.

Re: High Dose Tykerb Experiment - wish me luck!
 

Brenda -twinkie - I have a dear friend in Denver. Please pm me if you need help with logistics, etc. Best of luck!
Courtney - wow - this is so interesting and I feel like it makes such good sense! Thanks for testing this out for "us".
Blessings,
Flori

Re: High Dose Tykerb Experiment - wish me luck!
 

So proud to be in the company of all the 'pioneer women'... Good luck!

Re: High Dose Tykerb Experiment
 

CourtneyL

Just wanted to point out something about high dose (dose intense) protocol. Maybe this is what Trish had been thinking of by "pulse" doses.

Many chemotherapy drugs, in addition to killing tumor cells, also fight angiogenesis. However, the anti-angiogenic effects of dose-intense (high-dose) therapy may be masked and marginalized by the way it is usually administered. There are generally long breaks between drug administration that are necessary to allow the patient to recover from the harmful side effects of treatment.

The main targets of dose-intense chemotherapy are presumed to be proliferating tumor cells. The main targets of dense-dense (low-dose) chemotherapy are the endothelial cells of the growing vasculature of a tumor. In other words, chemotherapeutics can be used as anti-angiogenic agents.

When administering both anti-tumor and anti-angiogenesis drugs, the endothelial cells (involved in angiogenessis) are the first in the tumor to undergo cell death (apoptosis).

However, this anti-angiogenic effect does not translate into a significant therapeutic benefit because the damage to the vasculature of the tumor can be largely repaired during the long rest and recovery periods between successive cycles of therapy. Perhaps, lowering the dose of drugs administered with each administration? The more frequent, regular, lower-dose therapy can have an impressive anti-angiogenic and anti-tumor effects.

Blood vessel cells are less likely than tumor cells to become resistant to chemotherapy, so if cancer cells become drug resistant, these medicines should still be able to shrink tumors by destroying their blood supply. Too much/too aggressive chemotherapy can shorten as much as it can prolong life.

Lastly, Tykerb can enhance the antivascular activity of Avastin. There was a slide presentation at the ASCO Breast Cancer Symposium on September 5, 2008.

http://www.asco.org/ASCOv2/Meetings/...stractID=40418

http://weisenthal.org/Weisenthal_ASCO.pdf (large download)

Greg

Re: High Dose Tykerb Experiment - wish me luck!
 

Yes indeed that was what I was referring to Greg-I'm glad not everyone on this is as vague as me!
Trish