We met with Dr. Young today. He gave us two options to consider. First, to try a drug called Erbitux. And second, to try an oral chemotherapy drug called Xeloda. We chose the first one.

We liked the first option because we can combine Erbitux with other chemo drugs like Irinotecan, leucovorin and 5-FU. This way we can attack the cancer from several fronts. The ability to do this was one of the primary reasons we opted out of the clinical trial we were exploring. The trial drug, called panitumumab, is a new drug that’s designed to work the same as Erbitux and would have been the only drug Lee was to receive while participating in the trial.

You’ll recall that I mentioned the lack of insurance coverage for anything associated with the trial. I’m concerned from several of the reactions I’ve received that I may have inadvertently communicated that the lack of coverage was the sole reason for our decision. That’s not the case. It was a factor, but not the primary one. We were more concerned about the limitation of treatment to one avenue, alone.

So, what can we expect? Erbitux is a monoclonal antibody that’s designed to go after a specific molecule called Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF). EGF often over-expresses in cancer cells. When this is happening, Erbitux has shown to be effective in preventing cell division by interfering with the EGF receptor on the cancer cells. Lee’s cancer has not been found to over-express EGF, so why are we using it? Well, there have been several reports of cancer patients who saw promising results even though their cancer didn’t have EGF.

The second option is a single treatment option where the drug, Xeloda, is taken daily for two weeks at a time. This drug converts to 5-FU when ingested and can provide prolonged exposure of a chemotherapy agent as compared to the typical 48-hour exposure. It’s an option, but not as hard-hitting as the one we’ve chosen.

We’re still exploring the selective internal radiation option, and will know more next week after meeting with an oncologist in Denver who performs this treatment. I’ll send out another update when we know more about whether we can pursue this option further.

Please continue to pray for Lee. She’s now back in full-blown chemotherapy and will be feeling the dragging effects of these intense drugs.

We’re still hoping for complete healing. We know that God is above the medicines He sometimes uses.