merilee
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Posts:32
I finished my chemo/radiation, for local recurrence. Dr had talked about doing
Two rounds strong chemo every three wks two rounds..When we spoke today
She said she didn't think we should as I have been through a lot already.
She feels the risk of reoccurrence would not stop recurrence much less than
If I would have it. Has anyone on here had a local recurrence, then treated with
Radiation/ chemo. Then had another two rounds of stronger chemo...... M M
:?:
Forums
Reply # - April 21, 2016, 08:09 AM
Hi merilee,
Hi merilee,
Congratulations on getting through your chemo/radiation. As your doctor said, it's a lot to deal with. The evidence for benefit from further chemotherapy in this context is not at all persuasive. As Dr. Hanna stated in his recent podcast on treatment for locally advanced lung cancer:
"Unfortunately the bottom line to all of this type of treatment is that neither giving chemotherapy first, prior to concurrent chemoradiation, nor giving chemotherapy after concurrent chemoradiation was able to cure more people than simply giving chemotherapy and radiation at the same time."
And that's exactly what Dr. West stated in a discussion of treatment for local recurrence: "We've tried giving extra chemo after the period of chemo/radiation, and this has led to more side effects but no clear increase in cures." - http://cancergrace.org/forums/index.php?topic=766.msg3972#msg3972
In addition to the unclear benefit of additional chemo, your doctor is in the best position to judge how well you might tolerate such treatment, and if she thinks you've had enough, this is probably a good place to take a break and see what follow-up scans reveal.
Good luck.
JimC
Forum moderator
Reply # - April 21, 2016, 10:08 PM
Thank you all for replies,
Thank you all for replies, sometimes I hear so many different things..I have heard
that stage 2a was considered an early stage, then heard it was not. I heard that
I should have not had surgery right away and should have tried something else first.
Dr said 50/50 chance of recurrence this time. Just confused and sometimes don't know
What to think..but thanks for replies......M M
Reply # - April 21, 2016, 11:48 PM
Hi Marilee,
Hi Marilee,
It's great to hear treatment is over, woowhoo!
It's pretty safe to trust your doctor over what "others" have told you. We all know that friends and family want to help. The fact of the matter is cancer is hugely complicated, some.say each case is its own disease with its own complicating patterns. So people trying to help usually have limited experience and or out of date info. It makes for a lot of confusion. They mean well and don't understand the impact it has at the receiving end. It's why I love Grace. We try to put some understanding to what you're going through.
All the best of luck
Janine