Hi all,
My cat Little Bit has large cell intestinal lymphoma. He's on a CHOP protocol that involves weekly treatments of vincristine, a drug I can't remember the name of, vincristine again, then doxorubicin, then a week off, and prednisolone throughout. He responded really well to the first three weeks: his mass shrunk, he had more energy and appetite, and we were really hopeful. Then two weeks ago he had the doxorubicin, and when we brought him in for his check up the next week he seemed fine and the mass had not changed size, but between then and now it started growing again and is back to its original size, along with a new mass and nodes on other organs.
When my vet explained this to me, I was in a state of shock, and didn't think about the right questions to ask. She had Little Bit do another round of vincristine to see if the cancer would respond again to that, and suggested we could try another treatment protocol if it did not. I guess I was wondering, does anyone have any experience with a cat responding to several chemo drugs in a protocol but then becoming unresponsive to treatment when a new drug was used? I'm wondering if it's possible that another drug might work, or if this means that any partial remission he might have achieved is over.
I was also wondering if anyone had any thoughts about the efficiacy of predisolone. He seemed to be feeling much better on daily prednisolone, but my vet brought him down to every other day a couple weeks ago. She said we could bump him back up to daily if his appetite didn't improve in the next few days, but that it might make it harder if we see improvement to tell whether the vincristine had worked or if it was due to the prednisolone. I'm of the mind that if it might help, it's worth trying, but I'm obviously feeling pretty emotional right now and might not be fully thinking through this.
Any perspective would be appreciated!
My cat Little Bit has large cell intestinal lymphoma. He's on a CHOP protocol that involves weekly treatments of vincristine, a drug I can't remember the name of, vincristine again, then doxorubicin, then a week off, and prednisolone throughout. He responded really well to the first three weeks: his mass shrunk, he had more energy and appetite, and we were really hopeful. Then two weeks ago he had the doxorubicin, and when we brought him in for his check up the next week he seemed fine and the mass had not changed size, but between then and now it started growing again and is back to its original size, along with a new mass and nodes on other organs.
When my vet explained this to me, I was in a state of shock, and didn't think about the right questions to ask. She had Little Bit do another round of vincristine to see if the cancer would respond again to that, and suggested we could try another treatment protocol if it did not. I guess I was wondering, does anyone have any experience with a cat responding to several chemo drugs in a protocol but then becoming unresponsive to treatment when a new drug was used? I'm wondering if it's possible that another drug might work, or if this means that any partial remission he might have achieved is over.I was also wondering if anyone had any thoughts about the efficiacy of predisolone. He seemed to be feeling much better on daily prednisolone, but my vet brought him down to every other day a couple weeks ago. She said we could bump him back up to daily if his appetite didn't improve in the next few days, but that it might make it harder if we see improvement to tell whether the vincristine had worked or if it was due to the prednisolone. I'm of the mind that if it might help, it's worth trying, but I'm obviously feeling pretty emotional right now and might not be fully thinking through this.
Any perspective would be appreciated!
