Still fine tuning the dosage

Posted on | April 17, 2009 |

These last few days, Vodka’s been handling the Palladia dose pretty well, but we haven’t been seeing the kind of response we’d like. The tumor seems to shrink the first day or two after the Palladia dose, but seems to get bigger by the third day :( The net result is that the tumor seems to be a wee bit bigger this week than it was last thursday. *bleh*.

So, we’re trying to rework the dosage and frequency to come up with a sustainable schedule that can control the tumor and let the Vodka-monkee be his crazy self. The Pfizer folks seem to recommend reducing the dosage frequency first before tweaking the dosage itself. This isn’t necessarily a firm rule, just a vague guidance that we don’t necessarily have a lot of data to back with. So, we’re going to up the dose to 130 mg (from 115 mg) but stick with the once-in-three-days frequency. We’re hoping this will help control the tumor a bit more, maybe even shrink it a bit.

In the meantime, Dr.Tamara Walker (the surgeon) took a look at Vodka’s shoulder today - we’re thinking a debulking surgery is a good idea - if we can take the mass out, then the chances of controlling the mast cell disease with Palladia or some alternate treatment protocol is potentially better. It is somewhat stressful to contemplate surgery again, but debulking the tumor seems like the appropriate strategy right now.

So, what are we considering for treatment options going forward?

  • Palladia is still on the table as long as we can find a dose that controls/shrinks the tumor in the next week or 2.
  • Neoplasene is another option - Dr.Walker hopes to chat with Dr.Hershey tomorrow or monday about potentially applying Neo on the tumor bed during surgery - this technique sounds scary but has been used in several cases when debulking a tumor.
  • Another option is Noscapine - we’ll need to import this from an Israeli or European pharmacy if needed.
  • The latest one I’m looking into is Nitrosylcobalamin (NO-Cbl) - this is a B-12 analogue that induces the expression of an apoptosis-inducing ligand and its receptors. On reading a couple of papers about this, I emailed Dr.Joseph Bauer - the researcher who patented this compound for more information about the clinical trial. Currently, there seems to be a waiting list, but I’m trying to dig up more info on how to get on it, etc.

In the meantime, the Vodka is prancing around - he had a great acupuncture session with Cindy a couple of days ago, he spent quality time with his buddies at ACS earlier today and he’s been getting obscene amounts of ball time. Mucho goodness! :D

Vodka Fox (circa July 2007). <br>Photo Courtesy: Stephanie & Shawn (Dog-e-Central)

Vodka Fox (circa July 2007). Photo Courtesy: Stephanie & Shawn (Dog-e-Central)

Category: side effects, treatment
Tags: > > > > >

Comments

One Response to “Still fine tuning the dosage”

  1. Autumn
    April 17th, 2009 @ 1:45 pm

    Awww, Vodka is so cute. Give him a big hug for me and tomorrow I will see you and I will give you a big hug and an even bigger smooch!

Leave a Reply