Aerogenous dissemination - 1265013

malki13
Posts:92

Does anyone know what aerogenous dissemination means? Specifically does it mean that if air gets into the body through biopsy or surgery then tumors can spread? Or does it mean something completely different.
Thank you

Forums
Full Archive

Reply # - July 17, 2014, 08:46 AM

JimC
Posts: 2753

Hi malki,

It means a cancer that has spread through the airways rather than the bloodstream or lymph system. For example, the spread of BAC can be limited to the lungs when it does so only through the airways.

JimC
Forum moderator

Reply # - July 17, 2014, 07:44 PM

Dr West
Posts: 4735

Right. BAC is thought to potentially spread within the lungs via aerogenous dissemination through the airways of a patient from one part of the lungs to another. It's not that exposure to air during surgery causes the cancer to spread, or that there's any real risk of cancer being contagious by spreading through the air.

-Dr. West

Reply # - July 18, 2014, 10:05 AM

shy one
Posts: 49

This is very interesting--I had never heard of arogenous dissemination. How does one know if one's BAC has spread in this fashion? Even though my BAC has been found in a number of mediastinal lymph nodes and pleura, in 5 years since dx it hasn't gone anywhere else (even though I've gotten other, non-related, primary cancers: thyroid, breast). Does this account for my very slow progression or should I just thank my lucky stars and not ask for an explanation?
Nan

Reply # - July 18, 2014, 07:17 PM

Dr West
Posts: 4735

Honestly, it's not known if the spread within the lungs of BAC is because of aerogenous spread or some other aspect of the biology. One other potential reason for the pattern of spread is that BAC may possibly sprout independently from many different parts of the lungs at the same time or over a period of years, perhaps because their lungs have a "field defect" -- a predisposition to develop similar lesions independently from multiple places that all share some genetic feature(s) of high risk to develop a cancer.

We don't have an exact answer. There isn't overwhelming direct evidence for either theory.

-Dr. West

Reply # - July 18, 2014, 08:51 PM

malki13
Posts: 92

that's so funny...I'm reading your response and I see the phrase "field defect" and I think hmm I have seen that before and then it hit me..it was in your online article!!...lol...see I'm a good student. This description sounds very possible if I am understanding it.. in my mother's case. She had TB in Germany and Im fairly confident they didn't give a hoot about it and so I believe scar tissue has a presence somewhere here....

When you mention the word genetic does it at all also imply that if someone in your family of origin is diagnosed with BAC that other family members should investigate their own lungs etc?

Thank you

Reply # - July 19, 2014, 09:23 AM

shy one
Posts: 49

Very, very interesting response, Dr. West. So I gather that field defects can arise from multiple sources: previous smoking and previous lung insults such as lupus fibrosis, etc., as in my situation, perhaps exacerbated by epigenetic or genetic influences (my father had chronic lung problems). This is not something I understand well, and will look into it further just to understand it better. Thanks very much for your response, and for your web site. I read it far more often than I respond to it.
Nan

Previous PostNext Post