Hi,

Hi,

My 72 year old mother (non-smoker) was diagnosed with stage 4 NSCLC adenocarcinoma 3 years ago. She has been treated with chemo: pemetrexed/carboplatin then pemetrexed/carbo/avastin then carboplatin/taxol. During this time, she has had some periods of stability (including a wonderful year without progression following the first pemetrexed/carbo) but there have been times of rapid spread from the original pleural tumours to the breast (which we understand is very unusual for lung cancer) and bones, for which she has had quite extensive radiotherapy.

Hello, my name is Jelena and I come from Serbia. My father has squamous cell lung carcinoma with nodes in mediastinum involvement. i think it is stage 3a since it is node on the left side (where tumor is). He had one big tumor 10.6x6cm and two small ones (around 0.5cm). After 3rd infusion of Gemzar and Cisplatin tumor shrunk 8x8cm and two small once have dispersed. After 6th infusion tumor is in the progression. Now is 8x11cm and one node from 1.4 become 1.7cm. The big node in the mediastinum is much smaller still and there are not any other tumors in the lungs or in the abdomen.

I have read how cancer increases the chance of blood clots, which have the possibility then of moving to the lungs, but due to the possible side effects of anti-coagulants, most oncologists don't prescribe anti-coagulant medicine for their patients.

Does chemo/radiation increase the change of clotting? Is it safe to take a 325 mg. aspirin daily to prevent clotting or what does is considered safe?

do most people get a port if they will be having chemo (especially a strong drug like cisplatin) ?

The plan is for my fiance to go thru the 1st round (3 days) of chemo and then put the port in after that. I think someone sort of dropped the ball about a port, perhaps cause they though his veins looked large and and port wasn't needed ~ does that make any sense?

I don't like the idea of him having the chemo in the veins, but seems we have no choice cause we don't want the chemo/radiation to get started asap

Hi
My wife has nsclc stage 4 and is treated with Tarceva and Xgeva.
Our question is: Can she take Zinc based food supplements? We are worried from the possibility that the Zinc will support cells multiplication and interfere with the activity of the Tarceva.

My husband has metastatic NSCLC with malignant pleural effusion. We did see a great improvement in the effusion with treatment, but he seems start accumulating it again. I hope this is still slow accumulation which will not require pleuredosis or a catheter. The previous thoracentesis was complicated by a pneumothorax, and was drained with a chest tube and suction. That was before treatment started and they decided not to have a pleuredosis, hoping the effusion will resolve with treatment, which it did, at least for a while.

Dr. West,

Someone from cancercommons.org suggested I ask my oncologist about receiving BCG treatments as a preventative measure for my cancer. Would you please give me your opinion? As of this moment in time, I am NED. Thanks, Marie

I am unsure if this is the appropriate forum to post, if not I apologize in advance.

Hello. As an additional disclaimer, I apologize for my ignorance and/or lack of clarity in my questions. I am not a medical professional, just a very concerned son.

I have a question regarding monoclonal antibody drugs, specifically Opdivo. My father has recently been accepted into a drug trial for Opdivo after a PET scan revealed a reoccurrence of his previous cancer.

Hi: