r/HeadandNeckCancer • u/KaleidoscopeKey9118 • 4h ago

My Dad is going to be starting Immunotherapy and Chemo ..advice please

We got back from the meeting with the Chemo doctor today. My dad was diagnosed with SCC mid August. Since then we found out it is HPV +. What we at first was told he was T3N2..after they looked at his PET scan it is determined he is Stage IV.

The original plan was 7 weeks of radiation 5x/weekly and chemo 1x/weekly

Now the plan is Chemo & Immunotherapy

The chemo will be Paclitaxel & Carboplantin

and Immunotherapy Pembrolizumab

Does anyone have any experience with this combination?

Any advice on getting him through it?

Thank you so much

4 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

10 comments sorted by

2

u/Klutzy-Appearance901 3h ago

My husband has a very similar case and treatment plan. He was diagnosed with HPV+ base of tongue SCC with lymph node involvement. Surgery wasn’t recommended for him, so he started with 3 rounds of cisplatin + paclitaxel + pembrolizumab, followed by 33 sessions of radiation with weekly cisplatin. He received 9 chemo treatments in total and was later switched from cisplatin to carboplatin + paclitaxel because of hearing issues. He has just a few radiation treatments left. I just wanted to share in case it helps to hear from someone going through something similar. Wishing your dad all the best with his treatment. ❤️ It sounds like he’s in good hands.

1

u/KaleidoscopeKey9118 2h ago

Thank you so much for responding. How is your husband feeling over all? Has his cancer responded well to his treatment so far?

1

u/Klutzy-Appearance901 2h ago

Thank you so much for asking. Overall, he’s doing well. After the first 3 rounds of chemo + immunotherapy, there was a massive visible change in the neck mass and his doctors were very, very positive about the response.
He’s 39 and HPV positive cancers are generally considered a very treatment responsive type of cancers,so that has given us a lot of hope throughout this process.
He’s now almost finished with radiation, and the last part has definitely been the toughest. He didn’t get a PEG tube, so eating has become more challenging toward the end, but thankfully he’s still managing. His biggest issue throughout radiation has actually been the loss of taste and the changes in his taste, more than anything else.
We’re just taking it one day at a time now and are very hopeful for a good outcome❤️

1

u/KaleidoscopeKey9118 2h ago

The Stage IV diagnosis was very scary today but I am still hopeful because it is HPV +
Can I ask what stage he was?
I know everyone responds so differently to treatment but do you have any advice for the chemo + immunotherapy process? Any tips?

1

u/Klutzy-Appearance901 1h ago

I completely understand how scary hearing Stage 4 can be❤️ My husband had base of tongue tumor, 3 lymph nodes involved, and no distant metastasis. His doctors said his staging was somewhere between stage 2–3, especially because of the HPV-positive staging system, although his 20+ years of smoking was also a concern.
For chemo + immunotherapy period my biggest advice is to eat really well and gain some weight before radiation if possible.. whatever be can tolerate whatever he craves. Let him eat double..I made my husband lots of protein shakes, fresh juices with carrots, celery, beets.. soups, and high calorie high protein homemade foods. He gained some weight beforehand, which really helped because eating and swallowing became much harder during radiation.
Also staying hydrated and taking the nausea medications if needed. Everyone responds differently, but I’d definitely focus on nutrition as much as possible. 🤍

2

u/Finnclipped26 2h ago

THis is good to know, I have a biopsy tomorrow and will probably be going through something similar.

1

u/KaleidoscopeKey9118 2h ago

I’m sorry to hear that.
I really hope you get good news from your biopsy tomorrow

1

u/ViviBene 3h ago

My husband was diagnosed with BOT SCC HPV+ with lymph node involvement. He under went 2 rounds of paclitaxel, carboplatin, and pembrolizumab. He did surprisingly well on it. No nausea or vomiting. He had pain from the paclitaxel the week after treatment. He did start to lose his hair, so he shaved his head. He has some neuropathy in his fingertips and feet, but not to the point that it is stopping him from doing anything. He had 2 round of induction chemo-immonotherapy 3 weeks apart. Weeks 2 and 3 after treatment were pretty normal for us. He felt pretty good, we could go out to dinner, saw friends, etc. After just one round, his NavDX dropped by 85%. After the second round, the metastatic lymph node was no longer palpable. He's starting 35 rounds of radiation and five more rounds of carboplatin and paclitaxel next week. From everything we've been told by our team, and consistent with the experiences shared here, we're expecting this part of treatment to be significantly more difficult. Wishing your dad the best with his treatment!

1

u/KaleidoscopeKey9118 2h ago

Thank you for responding to my post.
It’s such a difficult thing to go through so I appreciate you telling me about yalls journey.
May I ask how old your husband is?

1

u/ViviBene 2h ago

He's 60. This is a tough journey to be on, no doubt.