It would be unrealistic to expect any treatment to progress
over a long term without aberration. The human body is a complex organism, and
reactions to drug treatments can vary according to how the body responds under
ever-changing (however slightly) conditions.
While the Pfizer drug Sutent presents a number of
well-documented side effects, their manifestation remains largely unpredictable
beyond broad parameters. For example, there is skin soreness. During one cycle
an internal blister-like skin sore presented on the side of my left thumb pad.
After the treatment cycle, the soreness subsided and the “blister” solidified,
sloughed off the surface, and was replaced by new skin with no trace of the problem.
During another cycle the same thing happened but the site was side of the pad
of my big toe on my left foot. The same sequence of healing occurred. These “blisters”
appeared only these two times, however, over the course of several treatment
cycles.
During the most recent cycle my right jaw became swollen and
a similar growth arose in the corner of my mouth between my cheek and gum near my
lower wisdom tooth. In this case it was necessary to delay the start of a new
treatment cycle and wait for the jaw swelling to subside, because it had
restricted the extent to which I could open my mouth and thus affected eating. I
should point out that this area of my jaw was subjected to the intense
radiation treatment, which was given as part of a larger treatment regimen for
my entire lower jaw and neck area some twenty-two years ago. The eight-week
radiation treatment was for a squamous-cell carcinoma that was detected in
lymph nodes on the right side of my neck, under my jaw, with an unknown
primary.
The jaw swelling was a new side effect; however, I have
always felt some tension in that side of my jaw during each Sutent treatment
cycle. The blister-like growth is currently subsiding, though differently, I
suspect because it is always moist inside my mouth and so cannot resolve in
quite the same way as on my thumb or toe.
Side effects that do not directly cause problems can reveal
issues that otherwise might lie undiscovered, or they can exacerbate problems
that were minor and now require attention. In this case the jaw side effects
were sufficiently puzzling to send me to an ENT (ear-nose-throat) specialist,
who ordered a sinus CT scan and found a nasal polyp. Another issue that
presented itself was a perforated sinus, with a channel opening between my
right sinus and an area of gum behind an upper molar. X-rays of the jaw showed
no abnormality.
Future ENT and oral surgical appointments lie ahead to
address these newly arisen issues. In the meantime I have started a new Sutent
cycle that, I hope, does not reveal any new problems.
Side effects are to be expected. That’s a given. Individuals
undergoing treatment of this type, however, also should be aware that the
unexpected is not merely possible but likely. The aberrations are unpredictable
and simply must be dealt with methodically, one by one, as they arise.
