My husband is 47 years old. No signs on illness until he had two seizures. Sad to say, he had a TBI 19 years ago and has had a few seizures over the years (about 4). Docs would change meds and we would move on. When he had his first seizure, we assumed the same, as well as his doc and increased meds. When he had a second one 3 weeks later, doc did CT of brain and found lesions - he also had stroke like symptons and off we went to ER to see what was going on. Two days later, after CT of chest and abdomen, we discovered 4 x 6 cm mass in lung, as well as mets in brain (4), peritoneum and pancreas. Did biopsy and they did gamma knife right away. Also put him on steroids, which helped with the stroke like symptoms. Biopsy came back with a differential diagnosis - adenocarcinoma, but could be lung or pancreatic. Second biopsy done at a different hospital (cancer center). It is lung cancer. No mutations. Took MRI, since we are 6 weeks post gamma knife and the lesion have shrunk a bit. Biggest problem is that he had a kidney transplant back in 2009 and is on prograf and cellcept. They did stop cellcept, as per nephrologist, but is still on prograf. After second biopsy came back, onc recommended only a second line drug - taxotere along with avastin. Wondering if this will help? Onc did say it was not treatable and was not curable, but they would do what they could to maintain it and stop if from spreading. I have read so many stories, some good and some bad, but I am truly scared. He is already immuno compromised and onc dose not want to give first line chemo due to kidney. How sick will he get with chemo? Scared it will not help at all. Onc to discuss more the first chemo treatment.
Stage IV Adenocarcinoma - Mets to Brain, Peritoneum & Pancreas - 1273342
oreillyboys
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Reply # - March 20, 2016, 03:45 PM
Hello,
Hello,
Welcome to GRACE. I am sorry to hear of your husband's cancer diagnosis, and the difficulties in treating it caused by his kidney issues. It is likely that his oncologist does not want to pursue the standard first line chemotherapy regimens which typically include a platinum agent such as cisplatin or carboplatin, due to kidney toxicity issues (although carboplatin is much less likely to be a problem than is cisplatin). He may have chosen Taxotere because it has a track record in both lung cancer and pancreatic cancer, but it can be a challenging drug for patients, as it often reduces blood counts and causes significant fatigue. A drug commonly used for lung adenocarcinoma is pemetrexed (Alimta), which many patients find much more tolerable, but it is excreted mostly by the kidneys, and as Dr. Weiss has said in the case of a patient with reduced kidney function "it’s a drug that needs to be used with extreme caution or perhaps not at all." - http://cancergrace.org/lung/tag/alimta/
It's really hard to say what one particular patient will experience with a particular chemo agent, but it certainly may prove effective, as it has for many patients. Although your husband's cancer would be classified as Stage IV due to the spread beyond his lung, it is treatable. The goals of that treatment are to lengthen life, reduce symptoms and provide a better quality of life. As you've seen, the combination of gamma knife and steroids have already improved the symptoms caused by his mets, and we will hope that his chemo treatments will shrink the tumors in the remainder of his body.
It may be good to note that the post-gamma knife MRI, showing some shrinkage of the brain mets, is likely not revealing the full effect of that treatment, since it can take much longer for the full extent of response to become visible.
Good luck with his treatments.
JimC
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Reply # - March 21, 2016, 07:05 AM
Thanks Jim. You actually
Thanks Jim. You actually give me so hope when you say it is treatable. I hope the chemo gives him good results. This all came as a shock, especially that it has spread to so many places. They did tell me that the gamma knife would take time before we would see results, so we are just waiting. The seizures are just tough, especially on my children. My husband has been sick on and off over years, tbi, kidney transplant, etc and they haven't had it easy, but to see the seizures and him go through them is hard on them.
Thanks for your reply.
Lori