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Suggest Treatment For Lung Cancer That Is Responding To Targeted Chemotherapy
Question: Taking erlotinib,(Tarceva).
Stage 4. Non small cell lung cancer. Salty taste, nausea, extreme, heartburn. Urine slightly green.. have been on antibiotics for bladder pain. No sense of smell. Brain, CT scans show no sign of metastasis. Good response to targeted chemo. What should I do?
Stage 4. Non small cell lung cancer. Salty taste, nausea, extreme, heartburn. Urine slightly green.. have been on antibiotics for bladder pain. No sense of smell. Brain, CT scans show no sign of metastasis. Good response to targeted chemo. What should I do?
Brief Answer:
you need good supportive care
Detailed Answer:
Hi
Thanks for your query.
As your scans have showed good response to targeted therapy, these symptoms are probably drug-induced. Now you need only supportive medicines to relieve these symptoms.
For nausea, heartburn you can take proton pump inhibitors like omeprazole, antacids and prokinetics like metoclopramide. They work quite well in my patients. Smell and taste are closely related. As brain CT is normal, they may be due to problems in the nose or sinus cavities. You should get an ENT consult and take it from there.
For urinary problems, you are already on antibiotics, so let's see the response to it. Otherwise an ultrasound of kidneys and bladder with urinalysis to find out the cause.
With these measures, I am sure you will be able to get through all these and keep the lung cancer at bay as well.
Hope this helps. I will be available for further followup.
Regards
you need good supportive care
Detailed Answer:
Hi
Thanks for your query.
As your scans have showed good response to targeted therapy, these symptoms are probably drug-induced. Now you need only supportive medicines to relieve these symptoms.
For nausea, heartburn you can take proton pump inhibitors like omeprazole, antacids and prokinetics like metoclopramide. They work quite well in my patients. Smell and taste are closely related. As brain CT is normal, they may be due to problems in the nose or sinus cavities. You should get an ENT consult and take it from there.
For urinary problems, you are already on antibiotics, so let's see the response to it. Otherwise an ultrasound of kidneys and bladder with urinalysis to find out the cause.
With these measures, I am sure you will be able to get through all these and keep the lung cancer at bay as well.
Hope this helps. I will be available for further followup.
Regards
Note: For further queries related to kidney problems Click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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