More Trials

Well, one at least.

Returned home from Las Vegas (will detail the trip in a future post) last night to find a message from my oncologist waiting on my home phone. Seems a new clinical trial has just opened that she thinks will be perfect for someone in my position. I don't have all in the info yet (will pick up the consent form when I head into the BC Cancer Agency on Friday for the scheduled CT scan) but it sounds like a great option.

This new trial is designed for people like me who have Her2+ breast cancer that no longer responds to Herceptin. The trial includes a "cell poison" that goes by the rather uninteresting name of TDM1. Not sure if that translates into Transcendental Meditation position #1 or something equally enlightening, but I do know this is an IV drug that will be administered every three weeks - oh shades of my life two years ago! There is also a 50/50 chance that Lapatinib (the drug from the trial I'm already scheduled to go on) will also be thrown into the mix. The focus of the trial appears to be determining which of the two studied cocktails is more active re controlling the cancer over a longer period of time after Herceptin failure. The bonus attraction to signing on for this trial is that I cannot have taken Lapatinib prior to starting this trial, whereas the original trial had no such restriction. Thus, by going with the new trial first, I have another option (the original trial) to fall back on. I'll provide clearer details once I learn them, likely after receiving the consent forms on Friday.

In case I do opt for the new trial, Friday's CT scan has been expanded to also include images of my head and pelvic area. Rest assured, any findings of active grey matter or other similar minor wonders will be reported.