› Forums › General Melanoma Community › Abraxane and Avastin
- This topic has 4 replies, 2 voices, and was last updated 14 years, 5 months ago by
faulknercj.
- Post
-
- July 31, 2011 at 1:03 pm
Dear All
My wife has Stage IV secondary breast cancer ( http://www.clairefaulkner.co.uk )
We have come all the way over from England as the NHS ( National Health Service ) back there have basically told her that there is nothing else they can do, to the Burzynski clinic here in Houston, Texas.
The doctors have put together a plan that comprises of Abraxane/Avastin and Tarceva.
Dear All
My wife has Stage IV secondary breast cancer ( http://www.clairefaulkner.co.uk )
We have come all the way over from England as the NHS ( National Health Service ) back there have basically told her that there is nothing else they can do, to the Burzynski clinic here in Houston, Texas.
The doctors have put together a plan that comprises of Abraxane/Avastin and Tarceva.
My wife is allergic to Taxol and i believe that the Abraxane is of the same family but composed differently, I would love to hear from anyone who is allergic to Taxol but has managed to have Abraxane and how they have found it.
Also trying to put my wife's mind at ease i would love to hear of other peoples stories regarding the combination of these drugs, their success rate and side effects.
Many many thanks for taking the time to read this.
Christopher.
- Replies
-
-
- August 1, 2011 at 3:16 am
I will re-post this for you on the main forum as this is the off topic forum. You will get more responses there. I also must tell you taht this is not a breast cancer forum, but maybe someone will be able to assist you.
My response to your post:
You are correct, Taxol and Abraxane are both Taxanes, but Abraxane uses no premeds as it does not contain the chemical cremaphor, which is made from pine trees which MANY people are highly allergic to.
A little more depth: Yes, Abraxane and Taxol are similar drugs, but Abraxane is further reacted with albumin (and a sugar molecule) so that the result is water soluble. Taxol by itself is not water soluble so it must be emulsified with Cremophor EL (which is highly refined castor oil ethoxylate). It is the Cremophor EL that people are allergic to which is why benadryl and decadron are given as premeds. Since Abraxane is self emulsifying, you do not need the premeds.
Michael
-
- August 1, 2011 at 3:16 am
I will re-post this for you on the main forum as this is the off topic forum. You will get more responses there. I also must tell you taht this is not a breast cancer forum, but maybe someone will be able to assist you.
My response to your post:
You are correct, Taxol and Abraxane are both Taxanes, but Abraxane uses no premeds as it does not contain the chemical cremaphor, which is made from pine trees which MANY people are highly allergic to.
A little more depth: Yes, Abraxane and Taxol are similar drugs, but Abraxane is further reacted with albumin (and a sugar molecule) so that the result is water soluble. Taxol by itself is not water soluble so it must be emulsified with Cremophor EL (which is highly refined castor oil ethoxylate). It is the Cremophor EL that people are allergic to which is why benadryl and decadron are given as premeds. Since Abraxane is self emulsifying, you do not need the premeds.
Michael
-
- August 3, 2011 at 12:49 am
Firstly I wanted to say a huge thank you to for responding, it really is very much appreciated.
Tomorrow is D-Day for my wife.
We are going to have a PET/CT scan at the Houston Imaging Center under sedation ( my wife cannot lay flat without incredible pain from the tumor in her neck which makes scans incredibly difficult to achieve ) and then we are going back to the clinic to have the Abraxane/Avastin IV combination.
Fingers crossed she will tolerate it best she can with as little side effects as possible. We have just over one week left here and need to get started on some form of treatment.
She's had numerous chemotherapy drugs in the past and has also had radiation therapy so am hoping that she will get through this and be positive in her mind to continue with the treatment back home.
We have contacted our doctors in England and are anxiously awaiting confirmation that they will work with the clinic in administering these drugs, providing the clinic with bloods and scan results as required, and helping us to move forward in our lives.
Thank you for taking the time to read this
God bless you all
Claire & Chris
http://www.clairefaulkner.co.uk -
- August 3, 2011 at 12:49 am
Firstly I wanted to say a huge thank you to for responding, it really is very much appreciated.
Tomorrow is D-Day for my wife.
We are going to have a PET/CT scan at the Houston Imaging Center under sedation ( my wife cannot lay flat without incredible pain from the tumor in her neck which makes scans incredibly difficult to achieve ) and then we are going back to the clinic to have the Abraxane/Avastin IV combination.
Fingers crossed she will tolerate it best she can with as little side effects as possible. We have just over one week left here and need to get started on some form of treatment.
She's had numerous chemotherapy drugs in the past and has also had radiation therapy so am hoping that she will get through this and be positive in her mind to continue with the treatment back home.
We have contacted our doctors in England and are anxiously awaiting confirmation that they will work with the clinic in administering these drugs, providing the clinic with bloods and scan results as required, and helping us to move forward in our lives.
Thank you for taking the time to read this
God bless you all
Claire & Chris
http://www.clairefaulkner.co.uk
-
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.