Hi
I haven't been on here for a while. Will give a brief outline of history.
Dad dx nsclc squamous cell stage 3b feb 2012
Chemo and radio April 2012
Tumour shrunk sep 2012
Tumour began growing April 2013
Chemo October 2013
January 2014 collapsed lung- no help for this available
Jan 2014 Scan showed slight progression dad chose to watch and wait instead of treatment.
Next onc appointment next week. As no scan appointment was received dad rang to find out why and was told no scan needed this time if dad was feeling ok!!!!!
This seems totally wrong? My dad will still see onc next week just for him to talk to my dad but how are they going to know anything? Why no scan? He could wait longer and the tumour be too big to treat?!
He has always had scans every 3 months since dx
Anyone help?
Reply # - April 26, 2014, 09:14 PM
Reply To: Why no scan?
The longer the follow-up with little or no change, the more confident we can be that it will be unlikely to grow much faster than that pace. It's quite common and very reasonable to extend the interval between scans as we see that a cancer is remaining on an indolent pattern of progression over a long period of time.
-Dr. West
Reply # - April 27, 2014, 05:31 AM
Reply To: Why no scan?
Dr. West, this doesn't seem like a longer period of time for progression to have started. Since previous scan was 3 months ago, how long in between before the next scan?
Take care, Judy
Reply # - April 27, 2014, 11:42 AM
Reply To: Why no scan?
If there has been only slight progression over 3 months, I think it's reasonable to rescan after a longer interval. But overall, I really don't like to try to explain another doctor's decision -- they can explain their own recommendations.
-Dr. West