Is dacogen good for my mother

[ashishm9]

Hi all, my mother has MDS in addition to recurrent ovarian cancer. We need to treat mds and then start with treating ovc recurrence. So far we gave mom revolade 50 mg and also erythropoietin injections to raise platelets. However they are falling to 23000/-. Decitabine (dacogen) is the only other option for mom now. The oncologist is of the opinion that mom might not survive the treatment as it is very rough. Mom is 66 years old, Indian, vegetarian, has had multiple rounds of surgeries, chemo and radiation to treat her ovarian and breast cancers. Please tell me if dacogen is too severe and life threatening. Should I go ahead with it?

[Neil Cuadra]

Dacogen is strong medicine and can be tough to take so you are asking an excellent question, but not one I can judge as a layperson. I recommend that you get a second opinion from another oncologist.

[billyb]

Ash, Decitibane effects people differently, it is milder than some other meds, sometimes the problems lie within the schedule of treatment itself , your talking 5 days per month for treatment, then blood monitering which could be once per week or even twice depending on whats going on, and the possibility of blood and platelet transfussions because Decitibane supresses counts a little bit, age and health also play a factor, everybody is different, but Decitibane is a good medication with tolerable side effects for most people.Ask your mothers doctor to be specific, is he talking about the medication itself, or the treatment schedule. And as Neil said get a second opinion, especially if you have doughts, when your dealing with duel cancers some doctors are better than others,