Signet cell type cancer -- anyone else have this?

[ketel]

Hi gang,

I am a recent Stage III C diagnosis. One thing that came out of pathology was that my type of cancer was called a "Signet Cell type." Apparently, there is not much histology on this cancer. Evidently, only 5-15% of colon cancer is signet cell type.

However, more worrisome is that signet cell type is considered especially aggressive. (I had a big tumor, the size of a tennis ball, perforating all 4 walls of the colon, and involving 8 nodes.)

Does anyone in the forum have this type? If so, please let me know. Also, I am curious as to whether patients with signet cell type are being treated differently on the chemo regimen than colon cancer patients with more common cell types.

Thanks in advance.

ketel

[Maggie]

Hi.
I had a type of signet cell cancer...signet ring carcinoma. It is a very agressive and extremely rare form of cancer. Matter of fact, when I called the American Cancer Society for information they had not heard of it. But that was six years ago and I think more research has been done and more cases have been heard of since then. I can't be of too much help as far as your treatment or anything because I was stage I and just had surgery. My follow up treatment has been fairly agressive though, as fair as colonoscopies and seeing the oncologist. My suggestion would be to have a good relationship with your doctor and ask as many questions as you can!
Good luck!
Maggie

[Brad]

Hi Ketel,
I was diagnosed in May of 05 with Stage IV (T1 N1 M1) adenocarcinoma with signet ring cell features. As for treatment, there was no difference in the treatment for "regular" colon cancer or signet ring colon cancer. My Dr. thought FOLFIRI was my best chemo option, so that's what we did and it seemed to have worked well. December the 15th marks my 1st year off of chemo. (it feels good to say that) You'll be able to say that before you know it. Just keep you head down and push throught it. Chemo is a small price to pay to get your life back. Feel free to contact me if you need to talk more.

Brad

[ketel]

Brad,

Thanks for the reply and congratulations on getting past your 1st anniversary. With any luck (fingers crossed) you will be out of the woods soon.

As to signet cell, I am hearing from all corners that this is a pretty rare and especially aggressive cancer. Is this what your onc doctor told you as well? I am curious as to whether the histology of the signet cell cancer persuaded your doc to go with FOLFIRI versus FOLFOX or another regimen. As you suggested, most oncs are not adjusting the protocol around the signet cell type -- they are sticking with whatever is considered standard first line therapy.

Have you and your doc discussed other therapies to consider should you recur? As I have not started chemo yet, I am looking at a variety of things, including incorporating Avastin and/or Erbitux into the FOLFOX regimen that I will likely be on. Given your Stage IV category, has Erbitux or Avastin been suggested to you -- either in your initial chemo or in any follow up regimen down the road?

thanks in advance.

ketel

[Brad]

Ketel,
I forgot to add that I did take avastin. My onc and I decided on Folfiri plus avastin because at the time there was no evidence that Folfox was any better, so we weighed out quality of life issues (ie side effects) and decided that Folfiri plus avastin would be the easiest chemo to tolerate and was still very effective. As for the signet ring cell thing, It was only discussed at diagnosis. Not enough information is known about it to even suggest a different course of treatment.