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AstraZeneca unveils successes in treatment of lung cancer

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Re: AstraZeneca unveils successes in treatment of lung cancer

#111

Post by hereme888 »

formercoder wrote: post #82
hereme888 wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would you be willing to share a few more details for me to understand? It would help me talk more concretely with my colleagues. So she had stage 4 lung cancer. "Is alive only because of this drug": - Was her life expectancy obviously prolonged? If so, by how much has she exceeded it so far? - Has the cancer progressed more slowly, halted, or regressed? Thanks.

I’m not completely read in to all the details but she told me prior to this drug her diagnoses was a “death sentence.” The lung cancer had metastasized throughout her bones. The indication was sudden lower body paralysis caused by a spinal tumor. She had spinal fusion surgery as well. I understand because it’s stage 4 she will never be in “remission” but it has regressed significantly.

Thanks for sharing. At such an advanced stage and aggressive metastasis, for it to have regressed at all... wow. She must have been in so much pain.

Re: AstraZeneca unveils successes in treatment of lung cancer

#112

Post by [deleted] »

Balgair wrote: post #86
e40 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My wife was diagnosed in Nov '23. Stage 4. She had a mutation that allowed Tagrisso/osimertinib. There are many mutations, but this one is prevalent in Asian women who have never smoked. There was a trial published just after her diagnosis that showed progression free survival at 2 years of 57% (chemo+osimertinib) vs 41% (osimertinib). https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2306434 She's 6 days into the chemo. T…

Hey, best of luck to you both. I've been there with close family members and cancer. It's no fun at all. Easily the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life was just to care and watch. Make sure to grab family and friends to help out. The want to help out , most of the time, at least. I know it's hard to ask, but make sure to do it anyways. And yeah, standard generic advice to take care of yourself too. I hated t…

[deleted]

Re: AstraZeneca unveils successes in treatment of lung cancer

#113

Post by hereme888 »

Spooky23 wrote: post #89
hereme888 wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would you be willing to share a few more details for me to understand? It would help me talk more concretely with my colleagues. So she had stage 4 lung cancer. "Is alive only because of this drug": - Was her life expectancy obviously prolonged? If so, by how much has she exceeded it so far? - Has the cancer progressed more slowly, halted, or regressed? Thanks.

My wife had stage 4 melanoma. Prior to the newish immunotherapies about 5 years ago, it was a death sentence — 6-9 months life expectancy from diagnosis. Now, it’s 60-70% 5 year survival rate. Unfortunately my wife wasn’t one of them. In general, these types of cancers spew mets and spread quickly. Many are resistant to chemo, go to the brain (chemo cannot help there) and only respond to high focused radiation like S…

Sorry to hear about your wife. Yes, once those melanomas go deep enough in the skin, they spread everywhere like a plague.

I know there's even researchers creating AI-assisted treatment regimes that match specific mutations, other aspects of people's DNA, and all the immunotherapy drugs, in order to mix and match the best possible solution. Ongoing research and not yet widely available.

I look forward to learning more about the newer developments.

Re: AstraZeneca unveils successes in treatment of lung cancer

#114

Post by wing-_-nuts »

kkio wrote: post #32

My father has been taking Tagrisso since he was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer in January 2022. It’s been able to give him a relatively normal quality of life I don’t think my family would’ve seen otherwise if he’d gone through chemo and radiation. Just chiming in that I’m super thankful to that these newer treatments are so effective. That said it’s not cheap and he still has to work to keep his insurance… othe…

>he still has to work to keep his insurance… otherwise it’d be ~10k/mo.

I mean, it'd be covered under the ACA or presumably medicare as well?

Re: AstraZeneca unveils successes in treatment of lung cancer

#115

Post by wing-_-nuts »

baq wrote: post #14

A friend died of lung cancer. Went from mild cough to funeral in about 5 weeks. 40 yo. 2 pre-teen kids. Started to look after my own health a bit more. This is a very welcome development.

Damn it man, here I am reading this at 41 with a mild cough. Thanks for that!

Re: AstraZeneca unveils successes in treatment of lung cancer

#116

Post by e40 »

sizzle wrote: post #106
e40 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My wife was diagnosed in Nov '23. Stage 4. She had a mutation that allowed Tagrisso/osimertinib. There are many mutations, but this one is prevalent in Asian women who have never smoked. There was a trial published just after her diagnosis that showed progression free survival at 2 years of 57% (chemo+osimertinib) vs 41% (osimertinib). https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2306434 She's 6 days into the chemo. T…

Can you refuse allowing residents to practice on you or your loved ones for better quality of care?

Yes, you can, and the doctors we talked to said it would not negatively impact them.

Re: AstraZeneca unveils successes in treatment of lung cancer

#117

Post by e40 »

hgomersall wrote: post #77
LambdaComplex wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> this one is prevalent in Asian women who have never smoked. Does that mean the rate is lower for Asian women who do smoke?

My understanding, though not by any means an expert, is that lung cancer that non smokers tend to get is different to that which smokers tend to get.

This is my understanding.

Re: AstraZeneca unveils successes in treatment of lung cancer

#119

Post by e40 »

Balgair wrote: post #86
e40 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My wife was diagnosed in Nov '23. Stage 4. She had a mutation that allowed Tagrisso/osimertinib. There are many mutations, but this one is prevalent in Asian women who have never smoked. There was a trial published just after her diagnosis that showed progression free survival at 2 years of 57% (chemo+osimertinib) vs 41% (osimertinib). https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2306434 She's 6 days into the chemo. T…

Hey, best of luck to you both. I've been there with close family members and cancer. It's no fun at all. Easily the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life was just to care and watch. Make sure to grab family and friends to help out. The want to help out , most of the time, at least. I know it's hard to ask, but make sure to do it anyways. And yeah, standard generic advice to take care of yourself too. I hated t…

Thanks. Appreciate the tips.

Re: AstraZeneca unveils successes in treatment of lung cancer

#120

Post by e40 »

quantumwoke wrote: post #103
e40 wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The side effect you didn't mention: mouth sores. It's the only one that my wife had (in the first month). So far, no other problems, though the chemo started last week (see my comment about it, if curious).

That would probably be from the chemo your wife is on rather than the osimertinib. Chemo tends to cause mouth ulcers along with hair loss etc.

No, the chemo started a month after the osimertinib and the sores appeared in that first month. The oncologist confirmed it was a side effect of it.
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