MEK alone
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MEK alone

› Forums › General Melanoma Community › MEK alone

  • Post
    • May 10, 2018 at 11:41 pm
    VinceMart
    Participant

    Has anyone tried MEK alone? I can't handle the Tafinlar and my onc mentioned possibly MEK alone.

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  • Replies
      • May 11, 2018 at 11:16 am
      ed williams
      Participant

      Hi VinceMart, not someone that has done targeted therapy since I don't have the Braf mutation but I have two links for you on the topic. First one if you go to 6:13min mark, Dr. Jason Luke talks about giving only Mek, second video is targeted therapies and their side effects in general and best practises!!!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhV1Zyi6r8E                 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nBOF6xHzc4

        • May 12, 2018 at 1:54 am
        VinceMart
        Participant

        Thanks Ed, II appreciate the links with great info.  I guess I will have to see what else I can do from here on out.

      • May 11, 2018 at 4:58 pm
      cancersnewnormal
      Participant

      I did. Although I'm an "oddball" BRAF, not the V600E or V600K that is the typical "BRAF pos" classification. MEK works in a different manner than Taf… the targets aren't the same. In fact, Taf and Zelboraf had no effect on my cells grown in a dish, but MEK did… soooooooo… I was placed into a research group and took MEK only for a few months. It was super effective for me. Hard to know with different individuals how folks might respond to one drug or another. If your doc is suggesting MEK alone, it could be worth taking a break from the Taf and seeing if it makes a difference in how you feel. If your scans show that the single drug isn't enough, you could pick up Taf again… yes? Have they tried you on any of the anti-PD1's yet? That's always an option as well. 

        • May 12, 2018 at 1:58 am
        VinceMart
        Participant

        Thanks Nikki, I did Keytruda for 3 months until progression with liver mets.  Hope they can give me another option.  I can't tolerate the Tafinlar.  My blood pressure drops to 70/40 within an hour of taking it along with a whole host of other side effects.  They have tried prednisone but seems to have no effect except in high doses at ER.

        • May 12, 2018 at 1:58 am
        VinceMart
        Participant

        Thanks Nikki, I did Keytruda for 3 months until progression with liver mets.  Hope they can give me another option.  I can't tolerate the Tafinlar.  My blood pressure drops to 70/40 within an hour of taking it along with a whole host of other side effects.  They have tried prednisone but seems to have no effect except in high doses at ER.

      • May 11, 2018 at 5:18 pm
      marta010
      Participant

      Hi – my husband has the opposite problem.  He can tolerate a reduced 3/4 dose of Tafinlar but not in combo with MEK.  Hope you find the dosaget that works best for you. 

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