Durvalumab Immunotherapy

Hello Ian,

Thank you for getting in touch. My name is Helen, I’m one of the Cancer Information Nurses on the Macmillan Support Line.

Welcome to the online community.

Your wife has undergone a good deal of treatment so far and has her maintenance therapy to come. She is likely to feel fatigued and may find our information on managing her energy helpful.

You have mentioned that 8 cycles of Gem CIS chemotherapy with the addition of an immunotherapy drug called Durvalumab has resulted in the cancer reducing by 50% but wondered if this reduction might continue with the maintenance therapy.

You have also asked what further treatment might be available to her.

You haven’t mentioned your wife’s diagnosis Ian, however I note that you have joined the bile duct cancer forum and perhaps this is the cancer that she is having treated. I hope you have found the group to be a warm and supportive community.

It’s so important that you get your questions answered, but because we don’t have access to your wife’s medical notes, in this instance Ian, we are not the right professionals to help you.

Your questions are simple, but the response depend on understanding many things, all of which her cancer specialist will have to hand. This includes the cancer type, the stage and the grade of the cancer on diagnosis, and the significance of her response to the treatment thus far. I hope my answer makes sense and you are not too disappointed by it.  

Your wife’s recent scan marked the completion of one part of her treatment, and she is about to commence the next phase of treatment. It’s perfectly acceptable to expect a consultation with her cancer specialist at this juncture.

Would you consider speaking to your wife’s Cancer Nurse Specialist to ask if an appointment is planned? If it is not planned, please feel you can request an appointment as your questions do need an answer.

I am sure you already do this, but write everything down that you both wish to ask, so nothing gets missed. 

I hope this information is useful and you can get your questions answered soon.

Please don’t hesitate to get back in contact by email, webchat or phone, if you need further information or support.

The Macmillan Support Line offers practical, clinical, financial and emotional support. You can call us free from landlines and from most mobile phone networks on 0808 808 00 00, 7 days a week, 8am – 8pm.

Best wishes, Helen

Cancer Information Nurse Specialist 

Ref HM/JL