Extensive SCLC Complete Response - 1251273

Thanks, Dr. West. It's been a while since I wrote. My dad finished chemo about 3 or so months ago. It was pretty successful -- all tumors besides for the lung went away. About 4 weeks after chemo ended we began to supplement his diet with Green Tea Extract and Curcumin. We've also been thinking of adding Querctin, but have been hesitating because it can alter the metabolism of one of his heart medications. Interestingly he is also on a statin and beta blocker, which I've read in addition to the supplements, may also slow the progression of the cancer.. Whatever the case, these things do seem to be working to slow the cancer's growth and spread -- At his 90 day post-chemo scan, he has no regrowth of any tumors outside his lung and only very, very slight regrowth of the tumor in his lung (<.05cm). He looks and feels quite good, which is a blessing.

His oncologist is now going to give him radiation treatment.(IMRT) as his remaining tumor is a pretty tightly wound mass located on the very bottom of his left lung. We are examining the possibility of using soy isoflavones during the treatment to radiosensitize the cancer cells to the therapy. Have you ever heard of this or the usage of any other radiosensitizers to enhance the efficacy of the treatment? Also, do people generally have a decent response to radiation post chemo? It know it's fairly uncommon to give this treatment for SCLC-EX.

I know there is no way of knowing, but I'm wondering how well you think this might work. It is reasonable to believe there could be an additional 50% shrinkage of the lung tumor? I'd love to aim high and hope it could be eradicated all together with radiation alone, but it seems unlikely. In any case, we'll take whatever we can get! Hopefully, if successful no regrowth or new growth outside the lung will occur anytime soon.

By the way, his oncologist is a great guy. My hat's off to you guys. You have a really tough job.

Hi All,

Well, my dad got back the results of a CT scan from the last week, about 4.5 months post chemo... Still no signs of the tumors in the intestine or in the pancreas... and no spread...

After 25 sessions of IMRT radiation, the CT showed the remaining lung tumor has decreased in size by about 20% and the CT scan showed that, like the other tumors had, the mass is splitting apart. He is going all the way to 32 sessions, which he expects to finish tomorrow. The oncologist said the tumor will continue to shrink is size for a little while after the radiation is completed. With the extra 7 treatments we're hoping for 25% shrinkage. He's still taking the green tea/curcumin/soy isoflavones. He didn't have any side effects from the radiation other than a bit of coughing.

Is this a good response for RT alone? It's hard to find information to compare his result to since RT is rarely done for SCLC-EX.

Jim,

Thanks for your thoughtful response. So I guess an additional question of mine based upon your response -- is there an estimate among oncologists or radiologists as to how long the shrinkage (cell death) will continue upon the completion of the RT? I was thinking it would probably be only a small window of time, like maybe 2 weeks, but some of the posts I've read seem to indicate the length might be significantly longer.

Hi Nia,

Sadly, my dad passed in October 2013. However, he did not die as a direct result of his lung cancer.

Within a few weeks of finishing the 32 sessions of IRMT, he unexpectedly developed afib, a cardiac condition where the heart flutters instead of pumps.. He had a history of heart palpitations, and as such, had a cardiac defibrillator implanted in his chest. He was shocked 11 times by his device, and his heart was brought back into rhythm. After the episode his cardiologist placed him on a lung toxic drug, amiodarone, to control the afib. During the following three weeks, he developed shortness of breath, tachycardia and ultimately was rushed to the hospital. Diagnostic procedures revealed 'white out' of the lungs, which was initially thought to be radiation pneumonitis, but later after an open lung biopsy, found to be more likely the result of amiodarone, a condition formally referred to as amiodarone pulmonary toxicity. He spent three weeks, mostly sedated, on a vent after which time his developed a very lethal condition called ARDS. Shortly thereafter his lungs failed and he passed.

My dad was brave, and fought until the day he passed. Even though my dad's story did not ultimately end up being a good one, I want to tell you there is absolutely hope! A medical mistake was made in my dad's case -- he should not have been prescribed the amiodarone with his preexisting lung condition, even more so because he just went through radiation therapy of the lungs. Had he not had this wretched drug prescribed to him, he may still be with us. Doctors told my family had this not happened, my dad could have potentially lived an additional 1-2 years given his great results to the cancer treatment.

I hope and wish you luck. I will say a prayer for you and hope for your husband's recovery.

If you have an more questions, let me know. God bless.

Hi Nia,

My dad was taking Life Extension Super Bio-Curcumin and Green Tea Extract. (He took each once in the morning and once at night if I recall) I was suggest a B95 type of curcumin, because it is far more bioavailable than normal curcumin. The soy isoflavones were meant to improve the efficacy of the IMRT radiation he received. My advise is to be very consistent and make sure your husband takes whatever supplements you decide upon each and every day at the same time. I also want to add we chose not to have him take these supplements while he was going through chemo, although some studies seem to indicate a synergistic effect that improves the efficacy of the treatment. So just to be clear, he only took the supplements after his chemo was done, mainly because he was having a tough time with treatment and we didn't want to risk making it any tougher. The use of the supplements was aimed at delaying the progression of the cancer and it did seem to be working. Perhaps if my dad hadn't so many comorbidities, he'd still be with us.

Good luck and god bless.