Liver

Liver Toxicity

Can be triggered by initial rounds of treatment, especially after the first dose or early on with some targeted therapies.

When I took my initial several doses of a mutation specific oral treatment, I had a very strong response, so much so that I was presenting all of the symptoms under the “contact your physician” section of the drug description document. 

Troubling symptoms were that my urine was quite dark and my stool was rather light, almost light grey in color. I felt rotten and was snoozing most of the weekend after starting treatment. My liver was in distress; I probably should have gone to the ER but called the nurse/physician on call. We stopped (oral) therapy for a couple of days to let my system deal with the toxins possibly from the dying cancer cells that were burdening my system. Valerie also had a strong response to her targeted treatment combination initial dose and had jaundice that presented itself as yellowed whites of her eyes and later a yellow cast to her skin; she had malaise as well. Your physician may assess whether to reduce your dosing, but try to weather through this early phase as your treatment may initially be kicking the tar out of your cancer!

Recommendations

• Call your physician immediately if you present these liver toxicity symptoms!

• Avoid NSAIDS, naproxen, Aleve et al as it is contraindicated with several therapies and is hard for your liver to process.

• DRINK FLUIDS; stay hydrated, especially when starting a new treatment regimen!

Low Albumin Levels / Hypoalbuminemia

This is another value on your periodic blood report for follow up with your general practitioner if you see a trend of your albumin level being lower than normal. This measure may indicate that there is some issue going on with your liver.

Recommendations  

• Be more aware of the amount of protein you are consuming and add more in as protein is used in rebuilding many aspects of your body.

• Eat more red meat, chicken, fish, nuts, as well as other high protein foods.

• Ask your physician about the implications of this condition.