BAD NEWS?
BAD NEWS?
MY BROTHER IN-LAW JUST GOT HIS FIRST TIME CT RESULTS BACK AFTER 2 MONTHS OF CHEMO. JUST GOT THE NEWS THAT CANCER HAS NOT YET BUDGED. IN FACT THERE IS A SLIGHT INCREASE. THE PHYSICIAN SAID THIS IS COMMON ? WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? DO POSITIVE RESULTS NOT SHOW AT FIRST?
For me it meant I was mis-diagnosed and they were using the wrong Chemo. I was told I had Ovarian Cancer and they treated me for that and the tumor grew. Then we switched to radiation and 5FU and it shrank back down, then they decided I had rectal.
Some tumors are unresponsive to Chemo, or there could be a different primary cancer then what was diagnosed. Personally after my experience I do not think doctors know how to treat every case and sometimes they do what "seems" to be best.
What did his pathology report say? Was it conclusive on what type of cancer it was? After two months of Chemo and not a budge I would get a second opinion ASAP! Have someone else read the path reports etc.
Keep us posted!
Some tumors are unresponsive to Chemo, or there could be a different primary cancer then what was diagnosed. Personally after my experience I do not think doctors know how to treat every case and sometimes they do what "seems" to be best.
What did his pathology report say? Was it conclusive on what type of cancer it was? After two months of Chemo and not a budge I would get a second opinion ASAP! Have someone else read the path reports etc.
Keep us posted!
Blessings,
Liz DENNIS
Tempe,AZ
DX 05/06 Rectal
6 Weeks radiation with 5FU
LAR 10/06 Stage III
Temp Ileo, reversal failed in 05/07 after 1m in hospital came out with a permanent colostomy
http://www.runlizrun.com
Liz DENNIS
Tempe,AZ
DX 05/06 Rectal
6 Weeks radiation with 5FU
LAR 10/06 Stage III
Temp Ileo, reversal failed in 05/07 after 1m in hospital came out with a permanent colostomy
http://www.runlizrun.com
anyone else??
I see alot of people read my post and i do appreciate liz's response i was suprised that no one else had any info on this. i know after all of you had your first couple of treatments you must of had ct to check progress had most of ypou seen progress right away? i should also mention that his cea numbers were good.
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guest
No Response
I don't have any personal experience, but sometimes the cancer does not respond and they have to try another chemo. But, I believe after 2 months that would mean a change in the chemo.
My husband has had a good response to chemo/treatments, it just goes back to business at the end of treatments (a little angrier everytime).
My husband has not had a scan since beginning treatments for 3 pelvic mets in late November. His CEA has shown good response (9.3 to 1.2) so I hope we are not disappointed with the scans on the 30th.
They normally schedule the scans after about 2 months because it should have had time to show some results by that point. I would really discuss some changes with the Dr. especially after slight growth.
MA
My husband has had a good response to chemo/treatments, it just goes back to business at the end of treatments (a little angrier everytime).
My husband has not had a scan since beginning treatments for 3 pelvic mets in late November. His CEA has shown good response (9.3 to 1.2) so I hope we are not disappointed with the scans on the 30th.
They normally schedule the scans after about 2 months because it should have had time to show some results by that point. I would really discuss some changes with the Dr. especially after slight growth.
MA
hi naomi,
well im sorry but i did not experience what your brother in law did. i know a person who was put on 5fu/cpt11 and avastin and did not respond well. they then changed her to 5fu/oxaliplatin/avastin and she is doing great and having shrinkage and she has tumors on both lobes of liver, lungs and abdomin and her last pet scan was not near as lit up as first diagnosis. don't give up or get discouraged cause there are many different drugs and drug combos they can try. good luck.
missjv
well im sorry but i did not experience what your brother in law did. i know a person who was put on 5fu/cpt11 and avastin and did not respond well. they then changed her to 5fu/oxaliplatin/avastin and she is doing great and having shrinkage and she has tumors on both lobes of liver, lungs and abdomin and her last pet scan was not near as lit up as first diagnosis. don't give up or get discouraged cause there are many different drugs and drug combos they can try. good luck.
missjv
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Noonie2
I'm luck to have a conservative, but open treating oncologist (TO) & friendly aggressive advising oncologist (AO) in another state. When researching my stage IIA options, the AO made shared his opinion that it is possible that there are several different variants of cc that just haven't been identified yet. There are also several different regimins available (FOLFOX, FOLFIRI, CAPOX, etc) for chemo and each tumor reacts differently. Folfox appears to be the emerging gold standard for first line treatment, but if your getting no response it may be time to change. Both my TO and AO agree that some tumors are not sensitive to FOLFOX. I am only in the adjuvant setting, so I only know that if I do a full course of 12 cycles & I get a recurrence that the initial assumption will be that I need to try a different drug.
I have no idea what the time frame for measuring is for palliative care. I do know that my AO told me specifically that a CT cannot accurately show size increases or decreases of 25% or less because of the slice size used (they are not continuous - they are a spiral sampling I think) and that it is not unusual to see a 25% difference between scans because of something as small as a 2% difference in body positioning even on the same machine.
If the difference in size is less than 25% in either direction you just don't have enough evidence of any changes. Shrink is best, but no change is good news too. If a 4 mm tumor shows as 5mm that doesn't mean a thing. Make sure you talk to your TO & make sure you don't give up on oxilaplatin too soon if your talking minor size changes.
Good luck!
I have no idea what the time frame for measuring is for palliative care. I do know that my AO told me specifically that a CT cannot accurately show size increases or decreases of 25% or less because of the slice size used (they are not continuous - they are a spiral sampling I think) and that it is not unusual to see a 25% difference between scans because of something as small as a 2% difference in body positioning even on the same machine.
If the difference in size is less than 25% in either direction you just don't have enough evidence of any changes. Shrink is best, but no change is good news too. If a 4 mm tumor shows as 5mm that doesn't mean a thing. Make sure you talk to your TO & make sure you don't give up on oxilaplatin too soon if your talking minor size changes.
Good luck!
42 - dx Jan 3 2007 stage IIA colon
9 FOLFOX4, 3 5-FU completed Sep 24 2007
Blockage symptoms, Negative Colonoscopy, Positive PET Oct 2009
2nd Resection Oct 2009 - Suspected Local Recurrence was Negative
9 FOLFOX4, 3 5-FU completed Sep 24 2007
Blockage symptoms, Negative Colonoscopy, Positive PET Oct 2009
2nd Resection Oct 2009 - Suspected Local Recurrence was Negative
Sorry... also tell your brother in law not to hesitate to get a second opinion if he is not satisfied with the answers he gets or just needs the reassurance. He should be 100% confident in his medical team (doc, nurses, surgeons, etc).
In fact, tell him to come to this forum - he probably has a lot more going on in his head than he's sharing & this place helps a lot.
In fact, tell him to come to this forum - he probably has a lot more going on in his head than he's sharing & this place helps a lot.
42 - dx Jan 3 2007 stage IIA colon
9 FOLFOX4, 3 5-FU completed Sep 24 2007
Blockage symptoms, Negative Colonoscopy, Positive PET Oct 2009
2nd Resection Oct 2009 - Suspected Local Recurrence was Negative
9 FOLFOX4, 3 5-FU completed Sep 24 2007
Blockage symptoms, Negative Colonoscopy, Positive PET Oct 2009
2nd Resection Oct 2009 - Suspected Local Recurrence was Negative
thank you
thank you for all your responses!!! i see the consenses is there should of been some improvement. i''l make sure to pass that on! i'm sure he would love this site but he is from israel so i'm involved here on behalf of him. thanks again.
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