Well, the first news following my last update is that yes, I got the acne-like rash :( However my doctor thought this was probably a good sign as it is often a sign that the drug is working. The other good news is that so far it seems to be limited to my face (bad enough I know) but good that it isn't also all over my chest and back. I have spent most of the last two weeks feeling like it zitty teenager, and reading up about it as much as I can to try and improve it. In the last two days I have noticed significant improvement, so fingers crossed I have seen the worst of it.....but who knows.
And the big news of the week is that my bloods are strongly indicating that the drug is not only working to stabilise the disease, but may also be shrinking my tumours! For those who have been following the rise and fall of my CEA levels (for those new to this, CEA is a marker in the blood that can indicate tumour growth and shrinkage in people with bowel cancer. Most people without bowel cancer have this in the range of 0-3 however if you do have bowel cancer its not the number that matters so much as whether your number is going up or down) my CEA hit the highest levels I have seen (265) on the day I started on Cetuximab, and this fell to 211 a week after my first dose and to 132 a week after the second dose. So it looks like the drug is not only holding things steady but possibly shrinking the tumours. My Oncologist said he has never seen these kinds of results (ie an indication of such dramatic tumour shrinkage) on this drug so its all a bit exciting, and long may it continue.
Of course, blood markers are just one way of getting an idea what is happening and we would get a more definitive answer by doing a CT scan, however at this stage it probably wouldn't change my treatment plan so not worth the hassle and expense. So the current plan is to keep going with the Cetuximab and continue to closely monitor my bloods and symptoms and when things do start to plateau, we would do a CT scan at that stage to confirm where things are at.
Anyway, at this stage this is the best news we could have possibly got. I had my third dose yesterday and hope to see a continuation in the downward trend in my CEA next week.
As always, I will keep you posted!
