There is every reason to have hope for a positive outcome for your husband. Surgery still may be an option and if not, then systemic treatments may be very effective. There are several examples on this board of people with lymph node mets that have been going strong for many years and tolerating tre...

Hi Trying, There is plenty of reason to hope. One option for BC patients is the POG trial. Which has seen some success in at least one stage 4 colon cancer patient. I’m from the Vancouver area. Another stage 4 patient from chilliwack and I get together for a coffee from time to time. If you ever wan...

Sounds like you have a good plan ! Anytime surgery can remove the cancer you have a great chance for a positive outcome. I had para-aortic nodes at diagnosis and as of my last PET scan in April they are no longer showing up (I'm overdue for a scan now). 5Fu infusions are starting to wear me down so ...

I read it as a good scan. I’ve had close to 10 CT or PET scans since diagnosis and noticed how each radiologist writes differently. I’ve had a few that read like this and I think they just have a “hedgy”style as it is somewhat subjective. If they saw something suspicious they would definitely note i...

All this means is that the nodes are likely reactive. While there is still good reason to think they may be benign my advice is to be vigilant. I had prominent nodes noted on my Stage 3 scan which were later revealed by follow-up PET scans to be cancer (only a biopsy would be certain but the PET num...

Hi CLD, Sorry to hear about the possible bad news this scan has brought. While it does seem rare, lymph node and bone spread is not unheard of and there are a few examples from this board. That being said you are right that PET scans can show false positives especially when there are signs of infect...

I’m with you ! There are lots of stage 4 survivors doing great and it’s always nice to hear from them.

Stay positive !

Hi Warrior Spouse, Hope all is well with you and your wife. For a Canadian perspective....The public system in BC has paid for my Avastin and it seems will indefinately. My Oncologist is also planning to try me on Erbitux once he see's progression and that will be covered as well. I do notice that t...

I had a somewhat similar experience and did a lot of research after. In brief- I had rectal bleeding in 2010 and during my colonoscopy the Dr. found a large ugly polyp which he removed via snare. The pathology came back pre-cancerous (high grade dysplasia) so I didn't have a resection but had follow...

My co-worker's wife was diagnosed about 8 months ago with Lung Cancer that had spread extensively to her brain, spine, femurs and more. She had targeted radiation for the brain mets and was placed on a targeted therapy for one of her mutations. She has been doing very well since starting the treatme...

Heres my 2 cents, Tp53 is very common in advanced colon cancer while KRAS mutations occur in up to 50%. Studies are mixed on the subject- but the general consensus is that KRAS mutation does not mean a worse prognosis for Stage 4 patients (I would guess this is likley because others will have driver...

So, is it possible to reach long term remission by chemo alone? Thinking about chemo for life... my hands are truly not liking that option. When will they finally get a handle on this???? Hell, there has been no cure for any disease since Polio. Are the drug companies really that greedy? Sorry for ...

all I can share is my story so far: I was diagnosed Stage IV, incurable and inoperable in December of 2016. I have three boys who were 7, 5, and 3 when I was diagnosed and it was so horrible to think what this disease would take from them (and my wife and I) that I could barely stand it. I thought m...

I think you have a decent chance this is not cancer. Lymph nodes can be enlarged for many other reasons. If they are cancer you say that they are local so still within the realm of treatment for a complete cure.
The PET scan should give you more information but try not to worry.

Hi there, I was wondering what have been the experiences of my fellow Canadians when it comes to requesting and obtaining genomic testing to determine the specific characteristics of their cancer. We brought it up with the oncologist once at the beginning (when we were still hopeful that surgery wo...