Post-lung surgery or SBRT chemo - what were you offered

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Ana123
Posts: 41
Joined: Fri Jun 13, 2014 5:23 pm

Post-lung surgery or SBRT chemo - what were you offered

Postby Ana123 » Fri Feb 17, 2017 4:38 am

My father (cancer history in signature) is scheduled to begin his stereotactic radiation therapy on a lung met (not candidate for surgery, poor lungs). He will undergo simulation on Monday, and then x4 sessions Tues-Fri. The radiation oncologist said that chances of local control are about 90%. He is hopeful even though my father's CC is metastatic as it is a single met and it took it two years to rear its ugly head again.

Is there a protocol post-lobectomy/VATS or SBRT in relation to the chemo he then has to undergo for metastatic CC? What have been the experiences of those with lung mets ONLY post surgery or radiation in relation to the chemo (or none?) that they were given by their oncologists?

Thanks all for sharing your wisdom, experiences, and thoughts.
Last edited by Ana123 on Mon Feb 27, 2017 5:50 am, edited 1 time in total.
Daughter of 73 year old father
CABG 4/2014
Colectomy 5/2014
T4N1M0
Folfox 6-12/2014
Lung Met 2/2017. SBRT. No chemotherapy.
Met growth 12/2017. RFA.
Chemotherapy?

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Bev G
Posts: 5856
Joined: Thu Jan 07, 2010 11:19 pm
Facebook Username: Bev Golde
Location: Quechee, VT

Re: Post-lung surgery or SRT chemo - what were you offered

Postby Bev G » Mon Feb 20, 2017 6:29 pm

I dont have any experience with this. I'm bumping you up and wishing you the best.
58 yo Type1 DM 48 years
12/09 Stage IV 2/22 nodes + liver met, colon resec
3 tx FOLFIRI, liver resec 4/10
9/10 6 mos off chemo, Neg PET&CTC CEA nl
2/11 finished total 10 rounds chemo

9/13 ^17th clean PET/CT NED for now

stu
Posts: 1612
Joined: Sat Aug 17, 2013 5:46 pm

Re: Post-lung surgery or SRT chemo - what were you offered

Postby stu » Mon Feb 20, 2017 7:09 pm

Hi ,
My mum had a lung met removed last year. They did not recommend chemo in her case . My mum is a very fit lady and is 74. It has been a year since her surgery and all seems well . She has two 2 mm nodules that have not grown. She will only use chemo when out of other options as she wants to keep her quality of life . She actually did not have it after her liver resections either.
From my view point, I am glad she has had more time being well and enjoying life.
Not sure if it helps ,
Best wishes to you and your dad,
Court
supporter to my mum who lives a great life despite a difficult diagnosis
stage4 2009 significant spread to liver
2010 colon /liver resection
chemo following recurrence
73% of liver removed
enjoying life treatment free
2016 lung resection
Oct 2017 nice clear scan . Two lung nodules disappeared
Oct 2018. Another clear scan .

kiwiinoz
Posts: 1169
Joined: Thu Jan 03, 2013 11:44 pm

Re: Post-lung surgery or SRT chemo - what were you offered

Postby kiwiinoz » Mon Feb 20, 2017 8:50 pm

I was diagnosed as stage IV so I had 2 primaries (colorectal) and 1 x lung met in my lower right lobe. I had surgery to remove my primary, then time to recover, then was introduced to an Oncologist who sent me for a PET scan to ascertain if my lung nodule was active and it was active with 3.5 FDG uptake meaning, in the opinion of my medical team, that it was CRC.
I met with a cardio thoracic surgeon, and had VATS.
It was then that after I recovered the option of chemo was raised.
I had done a lot of reading, and I met with my onc who offered me chemo (FOLFOX). I asked him about this as my reading suggested that there was no difference between getting chemo, and those not undergoing chemo in terms of recurrence free survival rates.
His opinion was that there was a very slight improvement in recurrence rates and I simply asked him what he would do in my situation. He told me he would take the chemo, which is what I had already decided to do.
In my opinion chemo can do 2 things.

1) Give you a shot at remaining recurrence free (NED) which is about 30-40% based on my situation.
2) Extend the NED period prior to a recurrence

I was happy with either of the above outcomes.

As this is your Father's first lung node, and without knowing his medical history or health, I would always recommend going for VATS as it does less collateral damage, and is the gold standard in surgery

Good luck and best wishes

Kiwi
Stage IV Rectal Cancer (39 Year old male at dx)
pT3N0M1 (wish that was M0)
Diagnosed 05 Dec 2012
LAR 05 Jan 2013
VATS 27 Feb 2013
FOLOFX April 2013 - Sep 2013
Clear Scan 03 Dec 2013 - August 2020
Port Out 26 March 2015

Ana123
Posts: 41
Joined: Fri Jun 13, 2014 5:23 pm

Re: Post-lung surgery or SRT chemo - what were you offered

Postby Ana123 » Mon Feb 27, 2017 5:48 am

Thanks for bumping the thread and for members' feedback.

My father cannot have VATS as he has severe emphysema (45+ years of smoking) and the surgeon is of the opinion that the risks of surgery outweigh the benefits, esp. given his history of heart surgery and where the tumor is (he can't have VATS on it and will have to have open surgery). So he had SBRT instead. For the radiation oncologist and oncologist that is as good as surgery in term of getting rid of the tumor.

We met the oncologist today. We discussed with him the benefits of giving my dad chemo vs. the disadvantages post-SBRT. He said that given that my father had a single recurrence after two years of completing chemotherapy, he prefers a wait and observe approach rather than to put him on chemo. He said that that is because the studies aren't conclusive about the benefits of chemo post-recurrence. He may not have a recurrence, after all. And if he has a recurrence, having chemo now or after the second reoccurrence won't make much of a difference. My father is happy to not have to do anymore chemo and to repeat the scan after three months.
Daughter of 73 year old father
CABG 4/2014
Colectomy 5/2014
T4N1M0
Folfox 6-12/2014
Lung Met 2/2017. SBRT. No chemotherapy.
Met growth 12/2017. RFA.
Chemotherapy?

Mattsmom218
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed Feb 25, 2015 1:49 pm

Re: Post-lung surgery or SBRT chemo - what were you offered

Postby Mattsmom218 » Fri Mar 24, 2017 6:20 pm

Hello, my dear cousin age 52 was diagnosed with stage 4 rectal cancer in Feb 2015. It had spread minimally to the liver. Surgery, radiation and cancer took care of it all. She finished all treatment in Nov 2015-clean bill of health. The only chemo she was on was Xeloda.

In Nov 2016 they saw a nodule on her rt lung. It was 3mm. They waited 3 mos to see if it grew, and it did to 11mm. She got the news today it is cancer.

I am trying to do any and all research I can for her as she is truly having a hard time with this. I'm hoping to go to the lung specialist with her next week to see what options are available to her. Can anyone please help me with questions to ask the doctor, what are the latest treatments for this and are there any clinical trials that are showing hope?

Thank you all so much, God Bless all of you.


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