Hello! I work a nonprofit that helps cancer patients with tricky treatment questions. We’re amassing quite a collection of Q&As, and we recently decided we'd like to share them freely with anyone who might benefit, including via online forums. In that spirit, I want to share an exchange we had with an NSCLC patient (edited for anonymity), in case it could help anyone here:
Q: I was diagnosed with stage IIB adenocarcinoma of the lung in July 2013. I underwent lobectomy, followed by cisplatin/alimta and radiation therapy. In October 2014, a brain metastasis was found in my parietal lobe, and excised by craniotomy and then treated with SRS. In January 2015, my doctor found a cerebellar brain met, which we treated with SRS then surgical removal. In October 2015 this area had to be re-irradiated, and now in January 2016, my MRI showed that it is enlarged, and there is a new tumor in the frontal lobe. My neurosurgeon thinks that the old spot is “pseudo-progression,” but the new tumor is real. My radiation oncologist said no more radiation to the brain. There were no mutations found in any of my tumors; my oncologist thinks I should find a clinical trial. Any suggestions for relevant trials in Florida?
A: Brain metastases limit your eligibility for some trials, unfortunately, but several trials might be a good fit if your new brain lesion is asymptomatic. Below is a list of trials in FL, all of which either accept patients with asymptomatic mets, like you, or don’t mention brain metastases as one of the exclusion criteria:
