Combination Therapy

In the Times today (page 16) there was an article about combination therapy that specifically mentioned PC. It reported case of Catherine Wilson who is being treated with a combination of lenalidomide & Gemzar (gemcitabine).

The treatment/research taking place at St Georges, University of London. The piece reported Ms Wilson (73) PC has been "contained" for more than 3 years to date.

Does anyone know anything about this?

As you know, Chris is being treated with gemcitabine.

Trevor

Hi Trevor and thanks for pointing me in the direction of this report - I hadn't heard of it before.

The Times' article is based on a document reporting a case study by three doctors from the Department of Oncology, Division of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, St. George’s University of London, SW17 0RE and relates to an eminent professor of the same University. That may, or may not, have a bearing on the fact that she was offered this treatment. I see that Cancer Research have welcomed the information but note that this is at an early stage of development.

The abstract of the actual research article and a free copy of the first page can be found at the following website: www.springerlink.com/content/8q02332164231614/ A full copy is available but chargeable.

There are studies currently being done in the US for this combination therapy and you can find details of this here: www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00837031

I don't want to put a dampener on anyone's hopes but the difficulty with clinical trials etc is that they take a long time. Then, if the drug is to be prescribed on the NHS, NICE (the National Institute for Clinical Exellence) has to approve it. That can take years and NICE are often criticised for the delay in approving treatments. With that in mind, it's unlikely that this combination is going to be the standard treatment for a relatively long period.

Kind regards

Nicki

Thanks for the info Nicki. I will take a look at the links, & will raise it with Chris's oncologist on Friday 16th. As you well know, one cling's to any slim hope. The problem with the media is they get all excited but, as you say, the reality is that it is years away!

We're in for some difficult days as a good friend is in the process of losing his wife to cancer - started breast, then into bpnes over 2 years but 1 month ago into liver, & she has crashed downhill in last 2 weeks.

Take care

Trevor

Thanks Trevor. It would be really helpful if you could share with us the reaction from Chris' consultant when you've had time to digest it yourselves. As you say, any hope is welcome, however slim and the more information is shared the better chance we have of finding the right treatment.

I'm sorry to hear about your friend's wife. Inevitably you will be drawing analogies and it's going to be difficult for you both but I know that you'll offer your friend sterling support - just don't forget to look after yourselves too!

Kind regards

Nicki

We discussed this with Chris's oncologist. Whilst he was supportive, his advice was that he didn't think Chris would be eligible because she has a metastatic condition in her lower thoracic vertebra of the spine. He also told that he would support us in any trials etc we could use but funding was not available from his Primary Health Trust, although he was willing to take any requirements to his board.

As he thought, we have been turned down for Combination Therapy on the basis of Chris's metastatic condition.

I completely agree with Juliana - what are we supposed to do if we are not admitted to trials for the reasons she quoted. Just go away & give up quietly. It makes me very angry whilst not in the least bit surprised in these economic-governed times.

Similarly, we have had no reply regarding PDT.

Trevor

Hi again Trevor

The ineligibility of patients for trials seems to be a recurring theme, doesn't it? I can empathise with your anger. When contacting research trials for Ted, I always ask whether, if he's ineligible, they would consider prescribing the therapy outside of the confines of the trial (at our own risk, of course). The downside to that tends to be that payment is required for the treatment. In some cases this could involve not only the treatment per se but also all of the consultations, scans and other issues arising from the therapy. As you can imagine, that can become very expensive indeed. One (overseas) trial I wrote to said that they could only offer the treatment as an in-patient in Manilla. Clearly that wasn't an option for us, but everyone's situation is different.

Kind regards

Nicki