Topic: How are people with liver mets doing?

Aug 17, 2013 09:52AM MamaPeg2 wrote:

I have liver mets. On Xeloda since June. Had my 1st CT scan today to get an update. From what I have read about Xeloda, sometimes there isn't any change at first but later, after a few more rounds, tumors shrink or are gone. I have had lots of side effects, so not looking for improvement yet. Actually, never had any liver pain.

Aug 17, 2013 10:13AM Trish03 wrote:

Blonde, thanks for starting this thread. I was dx with liver mets the end of May, and I would like to hear how others are doing. I have my first scans Monday after 3 rounds of perjeta/herceptin/taxotere. Liver enzymes have dropped to normal range, so I hope this results in good scans. I had a lot of pain at first, but it went away shortly after starting chemo. You're right, liver mets are very scary. I hope others will share their stories.

Aug 17, 2013 12:29PM gonegirl wrote:

Liver mets from start. Liver covered with spots. Taxol with Herceptin for 5 months. Now just Herceptin. My liver did hurt. I think it depends on how swollen liver gets, not size of body. My liver would hurt after each Taxol. I took that as sign that chemo was worked. My liver enzymes and tumor markers dropped with each treatment. I've talked to 4 women who are more than 10 years out from liver mets.

Aug 17, 2013 12:49PM MamaPeg2 wrote:

MaryGLA - why did you go off the Xeloda?

Two advantages of Xeloda are - pill form and my hair is growing.

Aug 17, 2013 10:42PM Mamita49 wrote:

I started back again with liver mets after almost 5 years in Dec. 2012.

My Onc gave me the choice of changing from Tamox to Femera only, which would take a long time to work, or take the fast track and take Chemo ( Navalbine) to get rid of the buggers fast.

He recom. Navalbine, and my last scan in July showed that I have no tumors in my liver, all resolved. He wanted me to get " maxim. results" and said that I would take the Navalbine for another 3 months, just to be sure. I do have no SE at all, and I must say, taking the Navalbine is like eating blueberries.  ( My tumor markers are presently at 15. 05) If this is still an indication that cells are in the blood system ? Maybe !!! After my next scan in 3 months, I will be on Femera. And than.......Who knows....

Never felt a thing, besides the pain in the bottom going to the hospital, I feel great, just like the last 5 years.

Aug 18, 2013 12:39AM cmhartley wrote:

Hang in there! I have diffuse liver mets and as a result grade 4, early stage cirrhosis and right now happy to say doing great!!! I've been on taxol, abraxane, Xeloda and now Halaven. So far, Halaven seems to be the magic bullet for me for my bone marrow mets as well as those liver mets. I've been going at it for almost 4 yrs with a good quality of life.

Hugs to all,
Katie

Aug 18, 2013 01:49AM MaryGLA wrote:

Mamapeg2- I progressed after 7 months on Xeloda. I switched to aromisin/affinitor for two months and had major progression- near liver failure. And then I started gem/carb which as been working for a year.

Aug 18, 2013 11:06AM KarenNY wrote:

I was encouraged by gritgirl's comment about 4 women living with liver mets 10 years already. I was diagnosed in 2006 with stage IIA then rediagnosed in 2012 with stage IV when it went to my liver. I was dealing with nausea but no other symptoms. After having my liver biopsies I developed a fever which lasted a few weeks. After my first round of Taxol, my fever and nausea disappeared. Taxol worked well for me, then I tried Faslodex. That didn't work, so I'm now taking abraxane which is working but has totally killed my taste buds/appetite. I never had any pain in my liver until I had the biopsies.

Aug 19, 2013 06:46AM Latte wrote:

Raro - our onc didn't say that chemo works better than hormonals, but rather that you can tell more quickly whether it is going to work or not. Most antihormonals take approx 2-3 months to kick in, and faslodex takes even longer. Just because you progressed on most chemos doesn't mean this isn't correct - the question is how quickly your onc realized that you progressed and changed your tx accordingly.
In my case, tamox didn't work for me, and my onc put me on femara. After one month, my markers were still going up and I had progression in a scan, and my onc said it didn't mean it wasn't working but rather that I needed to give it another month or two and then scan again to see if it was working. We decided together not to wait, because I felt like I was wasting time, and to switch to chemo instead, where I saw improved results after one cycle already. I can go back to femara etc in future when my mets are quieter and the slower start doesn't matter.
I hope this clarifies it for you.

Aug 19, 2013 11:27AM brandall wrote:

I was diagnosed as stage IV with liver mets pretty much out of the gate last July.  They resolved with chemo, which was 8 weeks dose dense ACT (the T being Taxol).  I was scanned after the AC cycles and the mets had shrunk a little, but not a lot.  After the Taxol they weren't there anymore, that was in December.  I've been NED since then, but just in the past few weeks I've had a lot of hip pain, so my PET was moved from September to next week.  My liver mets never hurt at all.  I've got my fingers crossed that NED didn't leave me ;)

Aug 20, 2013 02:08AM blondie1 wrote:

Thanks for the additional posts.  I keep searching for good news hoping it is out there for me.  My onc is looking for a chemo that will get me stable quickly and then going back to something that can be easily maintained.  There always seems to be a bump in the road over the last 2 years.  I wind up having to do radiation for a bone met causing me severe pain and then by the time I am done with the radiation the cancer starts progressing in other parts of my body.  It really sucks to feel I can't get it under control now after having it under control for so many years.  Prayers to all of you fighting this battle.

Aug 20, 2013 11:11AM Anko66 wrote:

I was diagnosed with two small liver mets in Dec 2011, stage IV from the start.  Did about 20 weeks of Taxol and Herceptin which got me to NED (or so we thought).  Switched to Tamox and Herceptin but by Dec 2012, scans showed 5 mets in my liver. I was re-biopsed and the cancer had flipped to triple negative. I have now been on Taxol since January this year and I am stable - liver mets down to about three although not necessarily shrinkage in some.  I also started Avastin in June so I'm hoping for good news in my next scans in September.

As for liver pain, I have occasionally felt pain after chemo - again I took this as a sign it was working.  The pain was specific to the biopsy site.

Aug 20, 2013 12:18PM OBXK wrote:

MamaPeg - wonderful news!

Aug 22, 2013 11:03AM OBXK wrote:

Scans tomorrow :o Sure hope I don't poop my pants!

Aug 23, 2013 01:09PM chanah wrote:

OBXK, I hope your tets went smoothly today.  My thoughts are with you during the wait.