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So Dad was released Friday evening from Barnes. They sent him home with an increased dosage of steroids to take until his appointment with Dr Ansstas (medical oncology) on Wednesday.

After talking with Ansstas prior to being discharged, we got some clarification on a couple of things. They are taking Dad off chemo completely right now, they want to get the swelling down in his brain and chemo does not work fast enough. They seem to be more concerned with the swelling than the actual tumor growth at this point. They are recommending he take Bevacizumab (the same drug associated with the clinical trial, is also considered the "standard of care") whether he participates in the trial or not. This drug attempts to slow down new blood vessel formation and slow down the blood supply to the tumor. They will also keep him on steroids until his appointment and then eventually taper the dosage down once he starts the Bevacizumab (also called Avastin, much easier to pronounce and type). There is a risk with Avastin, approximately 1 out of every 10 people have a stroke, heart attack, or blood clots from being on the drug since it's goal is to cut off blood supply. While this is a low number, it's still something that we have to consider. This drug will not cause any nausea or confusion, which this would pretty much be the only drug he's on that doesn't.

As far as the clinical trial goes, he would receive the VB-111 every two months through an IV and then remain at the clinic for 8 hours afterwards for observation and monitoring. The group that only receives the Avastin is only monitored for a short time after receiving the medication so we will know which group Dad is placed in. He would receive Avastin every two weeks through an IV.  This trial is currently in Phase 3 and appears safe for most patients. We should see an improvement after 1 or 2 treatments and this treatment should hold the disease for approximately 16 weeks, meaning there shouldn't be any tumor growth for that period of time. I read that Temodar (the chemotherapy he was on) can usually hold the disease for approximately 6 months so hopefully the information on Avastin is accurate as well.