Esophageal Cancer Support Group

Esophageal cancer is malignancy of the esophagus. There are various subtypes. Esophageal tumors usually lead to dysphagia (difficulty swallowing), pain and other symptoms, and is diagnosed with biopsy. Small and localized tumors are treated with surgery, and advanced tumors are treated with chemotherapy, radiotherapy or combinations.

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dhenth 08/15/2013

Major changes in Brother's treatment--my head is still spinning, and I can only imagine the state his is in. As I mentioned earlier, he was slated a couple of weeks ago to enter a drug trial (standard chemo + 50% chance of receiving an experimental drug). Then a few days ago his doctor discovered that his tumor was positive for the HER2 protein, which necessitated the relatively new protocol involving Herceptin. He was scheduled to begin this on Wednesday, but believe it or not the phone rang on Tuesday evening--Brother's medical team had discovered that only the main esophageal tumor have the protein and the ones that popped up in his neck do not.
So now he's back in the research trial, which started yesterday without incident. Apparently Herceptin is still an option farther down the road--seems to hinge on whether the lymph node tumors in the neck can be destroyed with the more standard drugs. Whew!

deleted_user 08/15/2013

thanks for the update! I really appreciate you keeping us informed - I always thought HER2 was only a breast cancer dx, my mother had metastatic breast cancer and died 5 days before my husband was diagnosed. She was so full of cancer at her final dx (4th round of it over 16 years) that they only offered her palliative pain care. I'm so surprised that we EC people also have to deal with the worry of HER2, so thanks for the information. Keep us posted on your brother's trial - I'm interested to hear what they are giving him.
Margi

cindyhils 08/16/2013

wishing and praying for nothing but good results..

Linda65401 08/16/2013

Sending good thoughts and prayers your way.

deleted_user 08/18/2013

hello, can you give us more details about the trial and do you know what drugs are used?
Wish you all the best and good response to the treatment. danile

dhenth 08/19/2013

Hi, no I don't know yet the names of the drugs my brother is taking. It turned out only the "mother" tumor in his esophagus was HER2--the two that spread to the lymph nodes in his neck are/were not, so he's not being given the Herceptin at this time.
He gets an IV drip in the medical center every other Wednesday, also stuff to pump through his porta-cath for forty-eight hours at home. The interesting part is the six vile-tasting pills he has to swallow daily--he's participating in a research study, and those little doozies are the ones his doctor says are either the experimental drug or the placebos. It's too soon to know, but Brother says they taste terrible...he threw up the second dose, and they were so foul that mere contact with them zapped his tongue--he couldn't taste anything afterwards for hours.

deleted_user 08/20/2013

Thanks dhenth, keep us posted on how things are going and if you find out anything more.
wish your brother much luck with this treatment.
all the best,
danile

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