Bevacizumab trial...Yes or No???

We have had a nice break up at Algies Bay for the weekend. Weather on Friday night was fairly wild, raining and blowing straight in from the north east. During Saturady, it progressively tamed down to being a pleasant day (meteorologically speaking!). We were just blobbing out so it made no difference whatsoever as far as we were concerned. It was just nice to be able to enjoy a nice sea view from a warm and comfy spot.

Sunday morning was absolutely gorgeous, beautifully calm, still and pristine. Stayed good all day. I did the lawns in the afternoon (the ride-on makes it almost fun!) thinking that although we'll be up there again this coming weekend, I'm not sure what sort of shape I'll be in after the 1st round of chemo on Wednesday and whether I'd feel like doing lawns then. Hopefully I won't be knocked around too much by the exciting list of likely side effects.

The question of whether or not to participate in the Bevacizumab (Avastin) trial is still a little in the air. The drug itself has been around for a while (FDA approved) and is used for treating cancer in the colon and some types of lung cancers (300,000 folk have had it so far). Its use in Non-Hodgkins lymphoma chemotherapy newer and is what the trial is seeking to gain hard evidence on. With a trial of this nature, those that are selected to be part of it have a 50% chance of getting the drug or getting the placebo.

As I type, my thoughts (having oscillated back and forth somewhat since Friday's meeting) tend to be favouring the idea of not taking part in the trial. From what I gather, although also a monoclonal antibody (like Rituximab) it sounds as though the likely benefits are a lot less pronounced than Rituximab. The side effects sound rather like the other potions in the R-CHOP cocktail. There is also a 38-week follow up period with appointments every 3 weeks at the Haematology Dept of the hospital (eek!).

I'm meeting with them again early afternoon tomorrow, so will hold my final decision on the trial part of the treatment until closer to that point.

Stay tuned.

Again, a huge thankyou to you all for the amazing level of support and prayers, actions, good thoughts and best wishes. We really do value it. Fantastic.

Cheers,
Bruce & Jeanette