BEP vs BOP chemo

Hi Josh,

Not sure how a non-medic could choose between the two!  The heavy-lifting in both caes is done by the 'P', the cisplatin. Some people have EP, without the Bleomycin, if they have pre-existing lung problems (or adverse reaction to B).  That leaves Etoposide vs Vincristine.

I would say its pretty rare to have BOP - just one or two people here I think in the last few years, whereas people are having BEP on here every day of the week.

You can get peripheral neuropathy (pins and needle) from either, but it is normally temporary.

I'll try and dig out info on the BOP'ers on here, if they're around they may be able to give more info.

May I ask more details of your diagnosis? seminoma/non-seminoma? Stage 1, 2a, ..?

When you say 'course' of chemo - how many cycles are they suggesting?

Greg

APB for  re: BOP - Mark you had BOP, can you recall the decision process around it and why they didn't go BEP with you?

Hi J_fish, 

I had cbop and bep.  So I had an extra ingredient of carboplatin with my BOP.  I would say the tougher part was the CBOP, as I said it’s not directly comparable but this really did knock my immune system and I was quite neutropenic.  The BEP on the other hand was quite straight forward and I through it with no great bother.  I do have quite bad neuropathy but I think is just down to the sheer amount of chemo I had.

Hope this helps a little! 

Shaun 

Hi Guys

I had BOP in August 2015. I was stage 1 non seminoma with vascular invasion. I had a choice of surveillance (40-50% chance of recurrence) or have 2 cycles of BOP - this would reduce recurrence risk to circa 5%.

I am in Ireland and BOP seems to be the port of call for my type of case- there was no mention of BEP. As far as I can remember I had 2 long days of chemo, then a break for around 10 days and then another 2 long days of chemo.

I believe the difference between BEP and BOP is that the Etopiside is replaced by Vincristine. This is a slightly less ‘tough’ drug apparently.

The side effects you will probably encounter are pretty much the same as BEP but because the entire treatment is not very long there is not enough time for ‘cumulative’ effects.

In no particular order I had:

A lot of nausea 

Tinnitus 

Metallic taste in mouth 

Some tingling in hands/feet

Bad constipation ( head this off at the pass before it happens)

Hair loss (not until after 2nd cycle)

A general crappy feeling that you will always have with chemo!

Any tips I have are the same as the guys who did BEP will give you

Drink a lot of water

Plenty of rest

Rowntrees Ice lollies to help bad taste!

The great thing about any chemo for TC is that it is extraordinarily effective. So when you do feel some of the side effects above remind yourself that you are going through it to be cured.

Also to note all of my side effects above disappeared after a few weeks, except for the tinnitus which I still get from time to time (very mild)

Take care and keep us up to speed!

Mark

Thanks for that Greg, 

They didn’t actually say what stage it was only that it’s was 7cm non seminoma and mixed? 

I was told that it hasn’t spread but there is evidence that there could still be some residual cancer left and if that’s the case then it’ll definitely be 9 weeks of BEP. So currently waiting on tumour marker blood tests to come back to determine whether it’s the 3 or 9 week course. 

Sorry for the rambling but I’m not 100% sure of it all still! 

Thanks 

Thanks Mark and Shaun. 

That’s really helpful the consultant said he’d couldn’t advise either way because it’s a personal decision and depends on my lifestyle. I work 2 jobs as a fire fighter and as a football coach so having full dexterity and being able to feel my feet are really important to me! 

The hair not so much, my wife has already said for better or worse so she’s stuck with me even if I’m bald! 

Thanks again 

Josh 

Hi Guys, 

Back again with more questions! I finished my first 3 days of BEP Sunday afternoon and now only need to do the 2 boosters of bleomycin. 

My question is will those boosters knock me for 6 like this week has? I’ve been sick as a dog (on the bright side my abs are looking great!) and was just trying to gauge if things will get easier or if I’ll have to man up again and deal with the sickness. 

Thanks a lot 

Josh

Hi Josh,

My experience of BEP was that it didn't make things better or worse. If you're feeling nauseous you can ask for other anti-emetics.

well done on getting started!

Greg

Thanks Gregg, 

They’ve given me 3 strengths of anti sickness and to be honest none have worked but being sick at home is better than in hospital! 

On the home stretch now. Can’t wait for normal life to resume! 

how have things been since you finished bep 3 days? Thanks