Sarcomatoid NSCLC stage 4- nonsmoker - 1251662

bowsnbugs
Posts:3

Doctors:

Please explain treatment options for this rare form of NSCLC. My mother's tumor has both sarcomatoid and adeno cancer but was diagnosed as sarcomatoid NSCLC. She is currently having radiation to the tumor that is the size of a baseball in her left lung. The tumor is inoperable at this time. Are there special drugs for this type of lung cancer?

Thanks for any information you can provide because I have not been able to find much on my own.

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Reply # - December 21, 2012, 01:32 PM

catdander
Posts:

Hello bowsnbugs, I'm so sorry your mother is going through this. I hope she does well with treatment though there is too little understanding of how to treat it. I have asked a doctor who has as good an understanding as there is on the subject to comment though it may be a day before we hear back. Everyone is so busy this week. But we will have a doctor comment as soon as we can.

Best of hopes to you and your mom,
Janine
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Reply # - December 21, 2012, 01:57 PM

certain spring
Posts: 762

I'm very sorry to hear about your mother. Hopefully the radiation will shrink her tumour. Other people have asked about this type of cancer in the past (as you'll see if you use the search function). In the thread below, Dr Pennell comments that there isn't any special way of treating it ("this type of lung cancer isn’t treated any differently than generic non-small cell lung cancer."):
http://cancergrace.org/cancer-101/topic/moms-lung-cancer/
Just looking at past threads, the treatments people have tried include standard chemotherapy (carboplatin/gemzar), Alimta, and clinical trials. I see you have connected with Anita - a trial with the PD-1 drug she refers to is discussed here:
http://cancergrace.org/topic/anti-pd-1-immunotherapy-clinical-trial-upd…
Hope the doctors can provide more information for you and your mother. Very best.

Reply # - December 21, 2012, 03:35 PM

Dr West
Posts: 4735

bowsnbugs,

Tthough I believe as mentioned in other threads in which you've participated there's mention of a patient or two who has responded well to anti-PD1 immunotherapy, there's not enough information at this point to say that it should be treated differently from other NSCLC subtypes. It's too uncommon to have specific recommendations that are distinct from the broader guidelines described here and elsewhere.

Good luck.

-Dr. West

Reply # - December 22, 2012, 02:32 PM

catdander
Posts:

I received an email comment from Dr. Tsao, a lung cancer specialist at MD Anderson in Houston, on your question as well as one of my own. Emailing in comments is a little out of the ordinary but with everyone one so busy we are so very grateful for our doctors to comment anyway they find possible. In my comment request to her I added a question about pd-1. Below is her answer,

"Sarcomatoid nsclc? If so, there are limited options and the pd-1 therapy is a great option"

I wish you much luck moving forward,
Janine

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