KerryToo Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 My Mom was diagnosed in Aug 2002 with NSCLC IIIA. She received chemo and radiation and was blessed with NED. About 6 months ago we found out that there was a new primary tumor in the opposite lung. A PET scanned showed that it had not spread. HOWEVER, she recently started to experience symptoms that lead them to investigate a possible Brain Met. Turns out that after an MRI that the tumor in her brain is 7 cm. They immediately administered a Steroid IV push and she is on steroid medication. This was 2 days ago. My research tells me that her time is limited. Is this true? Her "support" - my brothers and I are mostly out of state... we are all coming together to provide support to her and I am wondering if the statistics I have found on the internet are accurate - is her time short? We need to know this to offer her the best we can, not take for granted the time that is left. One of my brother's will be attending her OnCo visit tomorrow and I've asked him to broach the subject of her prognosis (outside of Mom's earshot because she doesn't want to know). Please tell me - is our time with my Mom short? Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KerryToo Posted December 14, 2004 Author Share Posted December 14, 2004 turns out that my Mom's brain mets is only 3 cm NOT 7 cm. This is much better news! What the oncol saw was inflammation and the steroids took care of it. They are considering StereoStatic radiation (as well as surgery and WBR but she's not interested in that). Yea! Hopefully her outlook is alot less dire than we anticipated. I would still appreciate your input for prognosis, as we are long distance (mostly with young children) and need to know what to plan for. Thanks! Kerry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john Posted December 14, 2004 Share Posted December 14, 2004 I think it is pretty good news that the Drs want to do surgery (I presume to remove the lung tumor) and also Radiosurgery for the brain met I think some of the research shows slightly better "distant" control of brain mets when radiosurgery is combined with WBRT. The WBRT treats any micro metastasis in the brain and that is probably why the Dr is recommending both RS and WBRT http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/quer ... s=12525283 No one ever can really say what will happen. Anyway, oncdoc will can add and correct anything that I have posted. I am not a Dr so wait for oncdoc and also talk to your mom's Drs Long-term survival following surgical treatment of solitary brain metastasis in non-small cell lung cancer H Shahidi and PA Kvale Department of Internal Medicine, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, USA. Dissemination of lung cancer beyond the intrathoracic lymph nodes (stage IV disease) implies surgical unresectability. However, solitary brain metastases (SBMs) from non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have often been treated by combined resection of the primary tumor and its metastasis. Such an aggressive approach appears to substantively improve patient outcome and provide better quality of life in selected cases. A search of the literature reveals extended survival (10 years or longer) in 16 patients following combined surgical excision. We report three patients with NSCLC and isolated central nervous system involvement who achieved exceptionally long survival. The existing literature on SBMs from NSCLC is reviewed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karen335 Posted December 14, 2004 Share Posted December 14, 2004 John, Thanks for the info. It made my day even brighter. God Bless and prayers, Karen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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