Dads stage 4 lung cancer

Hi everyone, 

So nearly 4 weeks after my dads biopsy we finally spoke to oncology today and they said it’s stage 4 lung cancer the treatment won’t be curative but he spoke positively about prolonging life so he’s having chemo and immunotherapy every 3 weeks for 3 months the drugs are called atezolizumab, bevacizumab, paclitaxel and carboplatin. I was just wondering if anyone has had these drugs and if anyone can tell me what side effects they had? I think right now I’m in shock and just coming to terms with everything. If anyone can let me know I would appreciate it. Thank you 

  • Hello Zee91, 

    Although the treatment won't sadly be curative, I am glad that the consultant spoke positively about prolonging your dad's life and that they have been able to offer chemotherapy and immunotherapy. I hope that this combination will be effective and work well for your dad. There is information on our website on each of these drugs - atezolizumab (what a name!) is a type of immunotherapy drug and you will be able to read more in our information page on possible side effects associated with this drug. You will also find detailed information on bevacizumab with a list of side effects and similarly for paclitaxel and carboplatin. Obviously everyone responds differently to cancer drugs and side effects will be different from one person to another but I hope that you will hear from the experiences of others on the forum who have taken these drugs before; it's always interesting to hear from others who are going through something similar and who have had the same treatment combinations. If you type the names of these drugs in our search forum function which is located at the top of our site, you will be able to see past relevant threads on the subject. Don't hesitate to respond to any you feel would be relevant to you. I had a little look for you and found for example  's terminal lung cancer thread in which  mentions having taken atezolizumab for a year and carboplatin too. This is just one example and you are welcome to reply to their posts and I hope that you will hear from others soon who have followed a similar treatment regime to your dad. 

    Best of luck to your dad for his treatment, 

    Lucie, Cancer Chat Moderator