Hello everyone.
They attempted another celiac axis nerve block on Valentine's day and unfortunately it did not work. For this reason her pain medications had to be changed today.
They were able to get a positive tissue biopsy from her liver and this means she qualifies for a clinical trial.
The CT scans show that the cancer is active, it has spread and that the Xeloda is no longer working. They will try this clinical trial in two weeks. They need time to wash the Xeloda out of her system.
The trial uses a drug that treats malaria but interacts with a pathway that helps pancreatic cancer cells survive. By blocking it (this process is called autophagy)they hope to kill the pancreatic cancer cells. Here is a free article on pubmed for people who are interested: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2914492/?tool=pmcentrez
And also here is information on the clinical trial(thanks to my dear friend Gillian who works at DFCI): http://www.cancer.gov/clinicaltrials/search/view?cdrid=693433&version=HealthProfessional&protocolsearchid=8853963
The gist of the trial is this: "Hydroxychloroquine is approved for the treatment of non-cancerous illnesses such as rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematous. Researchers in the laboratory have tested tumors from patients with pancreatic cancer and have discovered that they have certain pathways inside the cells that promote growth and survival of the tumor. Hydroxychloroquine may inactivate these pathways and results in the death of pancreatic cancer cells."
It's just a pill, taken daily. We'd go back every 2 weeks to see the doctor.
I will keep you all updated on how she's doing with the clinical trial. We all hope for the best. Inshallah.
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