johanna1
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Hi!
My 74 year old mom was diagnosed with small cell lung cancer in September 2017 and she has been on chemotherapy since then. The main tumor is invading the pulmonary artery. She is in pretty Good condition so far and hasn't had man side effects from the chemo so far.
Could immunotherapy (opdivo/yervoy) be an option even though the tumor is invading the pulmonary artery? Or are there bigger risks associated with treatment with immunotherapy than with regular chemotherapy when the tumor is growing into the artery?
Johanna
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Reply # - May 10, 2018, 08:10 AM
Hi johanna,
Hi johanna,
Welcome to GRACE. I am sorry to hear of your mom's diagnosis. Generally SCLC is treated with chemotherapy, and immunotherapy would likely be considered only if her cancer tested positive for high PD-L1 expression. Otherwise a change to a different chemotherapy regimen would be the typical choice if there is disease progression.
As far as increased risk of side effects with respect to the pulmonary artery invasion, I'm not aware of any information suggesting that. Dr. West discussed the typical side effects of immunotherapy here.
Good luck to your mom with future therapy.
JimC
Forum moderator