By: Harsukh Patolia

Harsukh Patolia — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 23:52:03 +0000

Hi Abdul, I hope your father is doing well. My dad was diagnosed with non small ca of lung in late October 07. Unfortunately he also has brain metastasis. He lives in India. We opted for Tarceva from very begining since he was too weak to tolerate chemo. He has done very well on it. In fact he gained 4 Kg weight and now he is very independant. I want to tell you couple of things which may help your father. Make sure you get his Vit D level checked and if it is low I would make sure it is corrected. There is plethora of data linking Vit D deficiency to various cancers. Deficiency is very common in people of Asian descent who have migrated to northen lattitudes due to less sun exposure and inefficient Vit D production by darker skin. If it is low it should be corrected only under medical supervision since your father had problems with hypercalcamia which is one of the toxic effect of Vit D especially when given in very high doses. Other thing to consider is checking his Testosterone level and if low you may want to consider replacement(again under medical supervision). It will not improve survival but for sure will improve his quality of life. In my dad’s case both of these were low and we did start him on both and I believe they played very important role in addition to Tarceva in making him feel better. By the way I completely understand your pain having been through similar life-altering experience. I hope my suggestions are helpful

Comments on: Tarceva – Round 2

By: Harsukh Patolia