New drug treatments

[lydiakerr]

I was diagnosed in March 2022 and my 6 mos MRI showed some growth. My neurosurgeon only talks about surgery which I'm not too wild about.  Has anyone talked with their doctors about drugs over surgery and what was the response/reaction? 

Been doing some research and found an article about FDA approved drugs.  I haven't talked to my doctor about them yet. Has anyone else has seen this?
    https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-devon-59710739

Also applied for an aspirin study through the Mayo Clinic. Will be talking with my doctor about that one too.

[donjehle]

Thank you, lydiakerr, for making your first post on the ANA forums.  I hope you will have several more, especially sharing news your have found or telling us about your experience!

I am not a physician, but my understanding is that research is still ongoing for any drugs which could be helpful for acoustic neuromas (aka vestibular schwannomas), and it may be a few years before anything could be ready to use in treatment.  But it still gives us hope that eventually something might be available to take internally which could allow patients to avoid surgery or radiation.  But I'm not aware of anything that we could take right now.

I am intrigued by the Mayo Clinic study on aspirin.  A few early studies on aspirin gave hope that taking aspirin could slow the growth of acoustic neuromas or even shrink them.  However, the most recent studies have indicated that aspirin was not effective in halting the growth of acoustic neuromas or shrinking them.  The Mayo Clinic does an excellent job with research, so I will be waiting to see if they confirm the latest research and state that aspirin does not really help or if they support the older studies which give a glimmer of hope for something very simple for us to take which could benefit many of us.  Again, it may be a while before we know for sure.

Thanks again for posting!
Don

[mwatto]

Lydia this is so interesting! I I am using bromelain (see tumbleweeds posts) but also looking into serrapeptase (protease inhibitor) because as Tumbleweed says its good to reduce fibrin. The AN secretes proteins which damage the cohlear also. I am very interested in the article. I wonder if having had radiation if that makes a difference re taking drugs after? In any event I am going to keep using some supplements to reduce sticky blood and fibrin ongoing.