Question re: tumor shrinkage

[SLT]

Hi there,

I introduced myself quite a while ago, but rarely have time to post here. I do read the posts to help me help my father out. My father has Stage 3b NSCLC Andecarcinoma with lymph node involvement. The tumor is in his left lung and it was 6cm in size which they say is very large. Dad didn't have any symptoms of cancer when he was diagnosed. He wasn't a candidate for a combo treatment of Radiation and Chemo due to age, so he had radiation by itself in early July. He came through radiation with flying colors. His tumor shrank 50% which the oncologists were very happy about. Apparentely, the Radiation could still be working to shrink the tumor more. They said that he could very possibly go sometime before there would be progression of disease again. I'm wondering if anyone here has found a correlation with excellent tumor shrinkage and longer time in remission? Dad is still doing great and has another scan in another month to keep watch over the tumor. If there is progression of disease, then chemo will be an option. But they feel that as long as dad is feeling good and the tumor isn't progressing than we will leave well enough alone. Dad also drinks Essiac tea faithfully 3 times a day which I hope is helping! If anyone can share their thoughts/experiences on tumor shrinkage, I would love to hear from you! Thanks to all!

Sherri

[john]

I. personally, would get a 2nd opinion and think about clinical trials.

Below is a link to NCI designated cancer centers. They specialize in cancer and are the top cancer centers in the country

http://www3.cancer.gov/cancercenters/centerslist.html

http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct/search ... clc%2CIIIB