Stage IV research: best chance at being cured

[mpbser]

On another thread about chemo-ineffectiveness, (viewtopic.php?f=1&t=62227&start=15) I wrote: Chemo "ineffectiveness" has become somewhat of an obsession of mine these days... I am trying to ensure that my husband gets the absolute best chance at being cured.

At zephyr's suggestion, I started this thread to discuss the best chance at being cured. I suppose the best place to start is to identify the challenges to a cure. I believe that one of the biggest challenges is preventing cancer cells from going through and staying in the EMT, i.e. entering dormancy aka evading chemo. I have a number of thoughts about this, but I am short on time. Heading to NYC in a few hours for my husband's appointments at MSK tomorrow. I will pick up where I left off later in the week. In the meantime, I hope this sparks a lively discussion! I look forward to reading your thoughts.

[zephyr]

Thanks for starting this thread. The whole micrometastates issue is making me crazy and I also am obsessed with figuring out something. I had lymph nodes tested after my CRC surgery, and two lung surgeries. My lymph nodes have all been clear each time. I've had my blood tested twice for circulating tumor cells. Nothing. Maybe this is naive but I want to know: where are these cancer cells and how are they traveling? This time around I'm physically and mentally stronger, and determined to give myself the best chance. Experience and this forum have taught me the value of obsession and research. As the song goes, I still have a lot of fight left in me.

[mpbser]

I happened to be reading this article when you made the suggestion. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5114008/ It's a good starting point. Gotta go! Back later in the week!

[zephyr]

I happened to be reading this article when you made the suggestion. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5114008/ It's a good starting point. Gotta go! Back later in the week!

Safe travels!

Edited to add: I think I'm a reasonably intelligent person but I only understood a small portion of that article. I'm hoping someone with more experience and knowledge will translate it in this thread.

[zephyr]

I think another part of this discussion should be the mind-body connection. If stress leads to inflammation and inflammation feeds cancer, to what extent do relaxation therapies affect tumor progression?