St Michael

Thank you for your response and I hope you are recovering well. Do you have another CT or PET scan scheduled in the near future? Hopefully you are NED. This is all certainly overwhelming at first. I am hoping that this doublet reduces her tumor enough for surgery. From what I read, her tumor is rare and is listed to be aggressive. Some of the studies on Neo vs. aduvant chemo are confusing and I am not sure which gives better survival odds. I am glad that she is beginning her treatment and her fight. God bless.

Congratulations !

Hello everyone. I am brand new to the forum and this is my first post. About four to five weeks ago my mother, age 62, was diagnosed with Stage 3a Adeno-squamous carcinoma - NSCLC. She has never smoked, but was occasionally around second hand smoke during her life. She is currently being seen at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute - Women and Brigham's Hospital in Boston, MA. Her tumor is approx. 3 cm x 3.5 cm in her left, upper lung area. Two lymph nodes (upon mediastinascopy) were shown to be infected at this point. PET scan shows no current metastasis (very thankful) to other organs. The Thoracic surgeon (Dr. Colson) and Oncologist (Dr. Jacobson) have said that her tumor is currently too close to a main vein near her heart for surgery. They have prescribed her a chemotherapy doublet consisting of Cisplatin and Pemetrexed, which she starts tomorrow, in attempt to reduce the tumor and pull it away from the vein to make resection possible. Radiation was not recommended as part of her neoadjuvant therapy at this point because the doctors feel that it may "melt" the tumor onto the vein of concern. I was looking to see if any of you here have experiences with these two doctors or Dana Farber, this type of lung cancer or this chemotherapy doublet - specifically if it is successful in shrinking tumors. I am trying to be optimistic, but realistic about the situation. I have read that resection is the best chance at long term survival. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thank you all and god bless.

Hello everyone. I am brand new to the forum and this is my first post. About four to five weeks ago my mother, age 62, was diagnosed with Stage 3a Adeno-squamous carcinoma - NSCLC. She has never smoked, but was occasionally around second hand smoke during her life. She is currently being seen at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute - Women and Brigham's Hospital in Boston, MA. Her tumor is approx. 3 cm x 3.5 cm in her left, upper lung area. Two lymph nodes (upon mediastinascopy) were shown to be infected at this point. PET scan shows no current metastasis (very thankful) to other organs. The Thoracic surgeon (Dr. Colson) and Oncologist (Dr. Jacobson) have said that her tumor is currently too close to a main vein near her heart for surgery. They have prescribed her a chemotherapy doublet consisting of Cisplatin and Pemetrexed, which she starts tomorrow, in attempt to reduce the tumor and pull it away from the vein to make resection possible. Radiation was not recommended as part of her neoadjuvant therapy at this point because the doctors feel that it may "melt" the tumor onto the vein of concern. I was looking to see if any of you here have experiences with these two doctors or Dana Farber, this type of lung cancer or this chemotherapy doublet - specifically if it is successful in shrinking tumors. I am trying to be optimistic, but realistic about the situation. I have read that resection is the best chance at long term survival. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.Thank you all and god bless.