HAS ANYONE HAD THE ORAL CHEMO - XELODA

diannep52
Frequent Contributor

HAS ANYONE HAD THE ORAL CHEMO - XELODA

Hi, I posted this topic in another place on the site? Not sure if it was where I should have posted it! Has anybody else had this drug? Hi, I'm new to this site and was wondering whether anyone else has had the oral chemo - Xeloda? I had IV chemo in 2009 after being diagnosed with advanced breast cancer (with widespread bony mets). My cancer marker has been continually rising over the last few months, so the oncologist has started me on this oral chemo. I have only been taking it for 3 days, but it feels really weird, in that I dont feel like I am having chemo. I have been assured by the doc that this drug is just as strong as IV chemo, but I just cant get my head around taking it orally. If anyone has been on this drug, could you please let me know the side effects (if any) and whether it actually worked, and if it works as quickly as IV chemo. thanks heaps!
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Sqweege
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Re: HAS ANYONE HAD THE ORAL CHEMO - XELODA

Hope someone has some response/advice. (((( Di ))))
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Re: HAS ANYONE HAD THE ORAL CHEMO - XELODA

If you ladies are more specific with what would you like to know I could PM you with tens of scientific studies on this subject alone. For example; Evaluation of therapeutic efficacy of capecitabine on human breast carcinoma tissues and cell lines in vitro Wings T.Y. Loo a,b, Hironobu Sasano a, Louis W.C. Chow b,* a Department of Pathology, Tohoku University School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan b UNIMED Medical Institute, Wanchai, Hong Kong Available online 14 September 2007 Abstract Background: Capecitabine, an oral anticancer prodrug, was associated with relatively mild degrees of side effects, notably low myelosuppression. Previous studies demonstrated capecitabine monotherapy as safe and very useful for recurrent and advanced metastatic breast cancer patients who are generally associated with a poor prognosis. Materials and methods: Capecitabine and two conventional cytotoxic antineoplastic drugs (epirubicin and docetaxel) were employed in this study in order to compare their therapeutic antineoplastic effects. The tumour tissues obtained from 42 patients and breast carcinoma cell lines were treated with the chemotherapeutic agents above in vitro. Their efficacy was determined using ATP Bioluminescence assay which measures the metabolic rate, WST-1 assay that could quantify the inhibition of cell proliferation and immunohistochemical studies. The proapoptotic effects was examined using in situ apoptosis kit. Results: Both solid tumour and cell lines treated by capecitabine as well as two drugs above demonstrated a significant decrement in metabolic and proliferation rates. However, capecitabine treatment resulted in significant increment of the number of the tumour cells undergoing apoptosis. Conclusion: Results of our present study demonstrated that capecitabine could be a useful agent against breast cancer cells with less side effects and its inhibition of cell proliferation of breast carcinoma is at least similar to that of two other commonly used cytotoxic drugs.  2007 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.
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diannep52
Frequent Contributor

Re: HAS ANYONE HAD THE ORAL CHEMO - XELODA

Hi DPC thanks so much for your response. Boy, is that information overload. I really didnt understand much of it, which is precisely why I was asking if others online had tried Xeloda. I really just wanted to 'layman' version. But, once again, thank you so much for taking the time to supply the info - I really appreciate it. Di 🙂
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diannep52
Frequent Contributor

Re: HAS ANYONE HAD THE ORAL CHEMO - XELODA

thanks Sqweege, been on the drug for 2 weeks now (2 weeks on, 1 week off) - so am now just about to start the week off. I have had a few 'different feelings' over the last 2 weeks, so I have pretty much guessed that there are side effects. Will just have to wait and see what happens over the next week. Di 🙂
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Re: HAS ANYONE HAD THE ORAL CHEMO - XELODA

No probs Di... anytime you want to overload your hard-drive let me know 🙂 I have unrestricted access to any scientific on-line journal and could get you any study you would like to go through... just say the word. Cheers
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diannep52
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Re: HAS ANYONE HAD THE ORAL CHEMO - XELODA

Thank you! 🙂
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dougt
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Re: HAS ANYONE HAD THE ORAL CHEMO - XELODA

Hi, I have been on Capecitebine virtually continuously for the past 6 months. I am just completing my 7th (out of eight) chemo cycle. I have Stage 4 Ca oesophagus, and the drug is part of the package of chemo. I started off on 2 x 500mgm per day, but after two cycles the dosage was reduced to 650 mgm /day. It seems that Capecitebine is an alternative to FU which has been around for years, but the main advantage is that it can be given orally. I had a heap of side-effects during the first two cycles (especially extreme fatigue, nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea) but as I was on three other chemo drugs as well it is difficult for me to pin-point what was causing what, but I did think it significant that this was the first drug that had is dosage reduced, and symptoms were reduced for the next cycle. Not much help I suspect, but all the best. Doug
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diannep52
Frequent Contributor

Re: HAS ANYONE HAD THE ORAL CHEMO - XELODA

Hi Doug, thank you so much for your comments, and yes, you have helped. Stage 4 Ca oesophagus - nasty!!! Do you have any secondaries? I do hope you are doing OK! I am on 4 x 500mg daily (2 morning, 2 night) and I have just finished the first 2 weeks, so now I have 1 week off. I havent had any nausea or vomiting (just one night I went to bed I felt a bit queasy - but I havent had that again!) I have had diarrhoea, for which I take Loperamide, but I have Crohns disease as well (dianosed 30 years ago and have had 5 bowel resections) so I have constant diarrhoea anyway, but I really cant say if this has worsened on Xeloda. I have had aches and pains in nearly every bone in my body (you prob have read that I have advanced breast cancer with boney mets), so I'm wondering if this is the effect of Xeloda. I have had extreme exhaustion and for the last week (week 2) have generally felt like I have been hit by a truck. I have not taken Xeloda for 2 days now, and today I think I am starting to feel 'normal' again. I have 2 x CT scans tomorrow, then see onco on Monday, so we will wait and see that the blood tests show and the scans. Thanks again for responding. Good luck with remainder of your treatment.
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diannep52
Frequent Contributor

Re: HAS ANYONE HAD THE ORAL CHEMO - XELODA

Hi everyone, Just an update on my Xeloda treatment. Went to onco today, and my cancer markers are dropping already! YEAH! One of them (CA15)has dropped 97 points and the other (CEA) has dropped 2 points. Even the onco was surprised with this drop after only 1 cycle of Xeloda. After doing the 2weeks on and 1 week off, it was only the last 4 days of the week off, that I realised how many side effects I had from the Xeloda. I started to feel quite normal in the last few days (whatever normal is!!). For the two weeks on, I was extremely tired and as 'flat as a tack' and every bone in my body was aching. I also had stomach cramps and a very tender belly. After a couple of days off the drug, these symptoms seemed to ease. That is when I realised the drug was doing what it was meant to do. I am 'as happy as Larry' and even though the onco said I will be taking this chemo indefinately, I know I can put up with the side effects when the results are good. Take care everyone, I hope you are all travelling well. Di 🙂 🙂 (two smiles tonight)
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