Jane: Names for $1,000 please Alex
Alex Trebek: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi...
Jane: Who are the Twelve Minor Prophets?
My Sunday School teacher would be so proud! It's not everyday you are called on to remember such a list of names!
And
what pray tell are they doing in a blog post about pancreatic cancer...
Farmer Husband is rolling his eyes. But here's the thing... In the Old
Testament, the books are divided into groups. The first five books are
called the Law, then the next twelve are called History, then Poetry,
and finally the Major and Minor Prophets.
But, really, I
think the Major and Minor Prophet categories have gotten a rather bad
rap. One would think that Isaiah (Major prophet) was all Big Stuff,
while Habakkuk (Minor prophet) was a nobody ... Oh, Not so. It's just
that the Major Prophets are lengthy books, while the Minor Prophets are
concise and short. No more, no less. All are important, some are just
more long-winded than others (good for the soul, just longer, smile)...
And so it is with the following pancreatic cancer chemotherapy treatments. They are no more, no less important than Gemzar, Abraxane or Folfirinox, I just have made this post concise and short!
Truly!
Concise and Short! My middle name... Read on for my short version of
the next 2 (well, maybe 3) chemotherapies for pancreatic cancer.
Since
2000, more than 30 pivotal late-phase
clinical trials have been carried out in an attempt to improve upon the
effectiveness of Gemzar against advanced pancreatic cancer by
adding other drugs to it. Only a very few of these trials have even
been moderately successful.
One of the those successes was the drug Tarceva, also called by its generic name, Erlotinib.
Mom was given the Tarceva/Gemzar combination for a very short time when she was first diagnosed. We share more about her experience with Tarceva here on the website.
The
Tarceva/Gemzar combination was approved by the FDA in 2005. Tarceva is
considered a targeted cancer therapy. This type of therapy works to
block specific abnormalities in the cancer cells. In our case, the
Tarceva was used to block the specific protein that the cancer cells
needed to grow and divide.
Tarceva is not effective for everyone, but is another treatment to add to our growing arsenal for the fight.
Another chemotherapy in the mix would be 5-FU, or Fluorouacil. Check here for a run-down on mom's experience with 5-FU.
In
a nutshell, the 5-FU was probably the most brutal of all the chemo's
mom was given. The nausea/vomiting and debilitating mouth sores about
did her in. But it also was the most effective of all the chemo drugs
as it dropped her tumor markers like a rock.
Some of
you might also be hearing about the chemo drug called Xeloda
(Capecitabine). It is also being used for some pancreatic cancer
patients. Interestingly enough, when the Xeloda enters the cancer cell
it converts to its active form, which is, 5-FU (5-Fluorouacil)...
5-FU
works well when paired with radiation therapy. And that's where we're
headed tomorrow, so as I promised, short and sweet for today. Well,
actually I said short and concise. There's nothing sweet about cancer
treatment. Nothing.
And I know I've said it before, but it bears repeating often... this series
is simply for sharing, for learning, for preparing. It is in no way to
be considered medical advice. Please, please talk with your healthcare
team about all your treatment options. Just know that you do have
options. Making an informed decision about your care will ultimately
put you back in the drivers seat and give a measure of control over a
totally uncontrollable disease...
Graced Always to Journey Together with you,
Jane
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