I am happy to report that the radiation killed the active cancer cells in my skull and hip.
In addition my lungs and brain are stable which means the clinical trial was working well on my lungs and brain.
However, I developed more tumors on my spine.
Even though they don't hurt me, I cannot continue on this clinical trial. With this much progression of disease, they kick you off the trial. Unfortunately, there is no clinical trial that I am currently eligible for.
I have had several liquid biopsies to see if there are biomarkers that can be useful in finding a targeted therapy or clinical trial, but the latest only showed a slight EGFR mutation and the previous mutations disappeared. It appears that the cancer cells are smart enough and learn to resist the treatment drugs used.
Thankfully, I am not out of options.
Next week I will start a new chemo regiment of four powerful drugs.
Paclitaxel and Carboplatin which are system wide general chemo drugs. These chemotherapy drugs destroy quickly dividing cells, such as cancer cells.
Avastin, which blocks a specific protein (VEGF) in the cells, since some cancer cells produce too much of this VEGF. Blocking VEGF may prevent the growth of new blood vessels that feed tumors.
The fourth drug is Tecentriq, which is an immunotherapy drug. Which can help to reactivate the immune system so that it can recognize cancer in the body and destroy it.
I am not an ideal candidate for immunotherapy. Immunotherapy is most successful when the patient has high levels of a certain protein (PDL1) in their blood. I don't, but since it can't hurt to try it, I will get will be immunotherapy as part of my new cocktail.
I will go in once every three weeks for the infusion. Hopefully this new treatment will work for a long while. I will keep u posted.
Please continue to keep me in your prayers and thoughts.
