Next line in treatment

Hi xxHHxx 

I remember before from chatting that you had suspicion of a recurrence, so I’m sorry that was confirmed for you. Did you get good results from the carbo/taxol? It is possible that there could be different treatments that don’t automatically mean there are only clinical trials available. 

What could be next will depend your particular cancer. It could be possible to have carbo/taxol again, but there are also targeted therapies like Bevacizumab (Avastin) and Keytruda (Pembrolizumab) for example. These will depend on the particular make up of your cancer, so there is testing needed to see what might be suitable.

For example they would need to test whether or not your tumour expresses a particular protein called PDL-1 to find out whether this drug would be beneficial or not in the case of Keytruda.

Bevacizumab is normally used in conjunction with chemotherapy. 

In case you haven’t seen this, I’ve put a link to clinical trials from Cancer Research UK, where there is a database you can search to find information on current trials

Clinical Trials

Getting on any trial can take time, and is not automatic for everyone. There are normally very strict criteria to join them, depending on your individual circumstances, so have you spoken to your team about any that are currently available that you could be referred to for consideration? 

As I’ve had exenteration surgery, I haven’t needed further treatment for my first recurrence, so I don’t have personal knowledge of  further treatments, nor clinical trials, though I have friends I’ve met along the way who have been on targeted therapies and one who joined a clinical trial for advanced cervical cancer  in the UK.

The best people to speak to are your clinical team, so I’m wondering if you’ve already done that or are just looking ahead for potential options?

I hope that if anyone in the group is undergoing further treatment might come along to post their experiences. 

Sarah xx