Avastin: Maximum 22 Cycles

danidelbiondo

Has anyone completed all 22 cycles of Avastin? Does it get harder to tolerate the more cycles you receive? At which point did it stop working for you? How long after treatment stopped did the cancer return? Apologies for so many questions. I'm HGSOC 3c.

Flowergirl

Hello @danidelbiondo - sorry, I have not had Avastin yet... I am hoping others who have had some experience with this drug will be able to post and offer you their support. 
How are you feeling now that you have completed that session and has the medical team provided to you a follow-up / transition appointment or care plan?

Sundog

I am on cycle 20. We hope to continue for as long as it works. I am taking it for my recurrence. The side effects that have gotten stronger are due to the taxol I am taking with it. The avastin is pretty much a walk in the park. 

Happy_Hyjinx

I am currently in a clinical trial, receiving the avastin and taxol combo. I wasn’t aware that there was a maximum of 22 cycles. 

danidelbiondo

Hi Happy, I just discovered in Ontario, we are only funded for 17 treatments. Perhaps I'll be permitted more when I have a recurrence.
I completed my 17 cycle on April 23. Now it's labs, Dr, and CT scans every 90 days.

danidelbiondo

Happy your clinical trial sounds very interesting. I had my first 6 cycles of taxol, carboplatinum  and Avastin for the last five. Not in a trial setting. I then went on to receive 12 treatments of Avastin as maintenance therapy.

Donnybrook

I had Avastin with the last 5 of 10 chemo’s as a booster because the chemo wasn’t shrinking my cancer much.  I just had my 2nd Avastin maintenance infusion on June 4th and it is to keep my cancer steady.  My side effects so far are similar to my what I had from chemo but the restless legs and feet are definitely worse.  

Bluebird

Hi @Donnybrook..I know I'm into this a little late..but I had a total of 17 treatments of Avastin..I had side effects from this drug..my shoulders and hips ached.even just to turn over in bed would wake me up with pain...I found exercising seemed to help.within 2 or 3 months of me finishing treatment the aches and pain went away...its like I was never on the drug...so know there is an end to it.....

Bluebird

Hi @Donnybrook, @donidelbiondo in alberta we can have only 17 treatments of Avastin unless its changed...I had it as maintenance treatment after my chemo...its been almost 2 years since my last chemo and a year since my last Avastin...so to me my side effects...is all good.

Donnybrook

Thanks very much for the feedback @Bluebird!  It is nice to know about other people's experiences and I am definitely having the aches and pains, lower back, right hip etc. Trouble sleeping is a big one lately too.  Qijong helps sometimes but exercise is definitely helpful.  

Donnybrook

I've been taking Zopiclone for sleeping and it works great but I really hope I can stop using it soon as the fewer drugs I can take the better.

Bluebird

@Donnybrook, I wished I would have know about Qijong when I was on treatment...I practice it now before I go to bed and it seems to relax me and I sleep well.  Sleep is so important going through all the treatment...I think it's our healing time for our mind and body..I think you need to do whatever helps and take the meds that let's you sleep!

TotallySurprised

Info wanted on Avastin Maintenance, please:

    What is the longest that anybody here has had Avastin for and how long did it seem  effective for?

         I was diagnosed June 2023 with late stage 4, so very advanced, and probably because of this, Avastin was part of my 3 infusions from the start (Carboplatin and Gem were the other two).  The chemo (6 rounds) was very effective in shrinking much (but not all) of my cancer. However, it also took me to dangerously low blood results, so they stopped the chemo in December after 6 rounds and switched me to only Avastin every 2 weeks as maintenance to see how that would work. I won't get my first CT scan for this new regime until March, so I won't find out until then if the cancer has bounced right back, and I do have concerns about whether Avastin alone works if not all the cancer gets erased first.  

Strongwoman

@TotallySurprised  Good Morning.  I am wondering if you received any info back on this?  Did you find any info elsewhere?  
  How has this left you feeling being on Avastin solely and waiting until March for a CT result?  Sit well? Not?   It is tough to sit and wait.  Have you looked up any clinical trials?  I know when I looked at the one at PMH with the many arms, I, personally, knew it may be a long shot but truly had nothing to lose if they said no.  I feel it is worth asking, pursuing and let the professionals who are running the trials to look at it on a case to case basis.  The stats and eligibility criteria can be convoluted and sometimes we can discount oneself before even asking.  That is my view on it...give it a shot and rule in or rule out.  It's about all we can do these days.
  Hoping you have found strength and support to get you through the day to day, to occupy your mind and to live every day the best you can.  Update us when you can and feel you are up to it.  Take care 

Strongwoman

@TotallySurprised Good Morning.  I was looking at your last post and believe you were waiting for a CT scan this month to see where things are at and wondering if the Avastin is working.  Has that time come that you had a CT scan and have results back yet?  If so, are you ready to share the findings and where you are at with treatment?  How are you in general?  
Thinking of you. 

TotallySurprised

Thanks for checking in Strongwoman. Unfortunately, the recent scan showed progression, so Avastin was a bust for me. And to my surprise, the oncologist said I was now considered platinum resistant because of the progression over 3 months without platinum, despite the previous scans showing that the platinum had been shrinking the tumours considerably on the 2 previous scans. (He said that's the definition: if the tumours didn't stay shrunk without platinum, that was platinum resistance.) So I gather there's not much left for me to try. He said I could decide to stop treatment now, or I could try a very nasty one  that does not have a good success rate and can have very nasty effects. In for a penny, in for a pound, I thought, so I'm now trying the chemo'potential stabilizer  apparently aptly nicknamed the "red devil"  (doxorubicin pegylated lipsomal). Maybe I'll get lucky and be in the very small group it does stabilize for a while. Anyway, my attitude is just to hope to reach one small celebration at a time, for the next month or two, if that's all I get.  It is what it is.

Strongwoman

@TotallySurprised I am saddened to hear of this news.  I have heard of this "red devil" and the nastiness of it.  I will wish for you that side effects are minimal and that you can tolerate it mostly.  Hoping for some stabilization is a good outlook, I will hope that for you as well.

TotallySurprised said:

 Anyway, my attitude is just to hope to reach one small celebration at a time, for the next month or two, if that's all I get.  It is what it is.

That is a good outlook.  Whether it be celebration, the joy of living the day and spending time with your loved ones, an excursion of some sort etc, they are all small victories in the grand scheme of things.  We unfortunately cannot change what we have been dealt but we can do our best to control or handle the way we look at it.  You are strong and admirable.  Thank you for sharing your update with us.  If you feel comfortable sharing some of your small victories, they are always welcomed to. They provide hope not only for yourself but perhaps someone who may be having a not so good day and may make their day a little brighter.
Take care of you!