elkiesmom Posted November 22, 2006 Share Posted November 22, 2006 My cousins husband had three years ago stomach and colon cancer. Surgery was done at sloan and they got it all. He now has LC nscle Adenocarcinoma (The smae as his stomavh and colon) and the pet scan shows many tumors in both lungs and a spot on his spine.He is devestated as is my cousin and all of us. His ONC that he just got wants to put him on chemo and was told they do not do RAD on the lungs is this true? Any help would be greatly appreciated. You have helped gary and myself so much in the past.I am so worried on two levels one is Jim and the other is Gary who so far is ned but he is going for his three month scans in Jan. It just seems like our family is falling apart since both my sil have had breast cancer also in the last two years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dihen Posted November 22, 2006 Share Posted November 22, 2006 Man, I am so sorry to hear about all the cancer in your family, and the new diagnosis for your cousin's husband. I do remember when my mom was first diagnosed, they mentioned something about not doing radiation on her lung cancer because radiation would damage her lungs (she has emphysema) even more. I don't know if this is true for all lung cancer patients though... All the best to you and your family! I hope things slow down... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elkiesmom Posted November 22, 2006 Author Share Posted November 22, 2006 Dihen That is what my cousin said also but when Gary had his surgery they said not to have rad only because it would melt the fat that they used in the resection of his bronchi tube. He did have Chemo after surgery just in case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dihen Posted November 22, 2006 Share Posted November 22, 2006 Thanks for the additional info. I think at some point when we were planning mom's treatment, her original doctors wanted to give her radiation to help shrink the tumor before her surgery but then the lung surgeon she eventually chose to do the surgery said he did not like doing surgery on tumors that had been radiated, something about not having a clean tumor to dissect. (this reason seems like it might be similar to what they told Gary?) Has your cousin's husband had a second opinion yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marym Posted November 22, 2006 Share Posted November 22, 2006 Hi, I think in general, lung cancer is not treater with radiation to the lung. I believe the harm done to the lung is unacceptable. Good luck with your tests. Think positive. Mary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elkiesmom Posted November 22, 2006 Author Share Posted November 22, 2006 Has your cousin's husband had a second opinion yet?>>>>>> No he hasn't that is why his other surgeon at sloan is going to look over all his test results and maybe suggest that Jim should come to Sloan where he had his other cancers treated.When Jim had the stomach and Colon surgery there they did get it all but didn't do a follow up with chemo like Gary did.Maybe they only do the follow up Chemo only for LC I don't know but we were told that even though they thought they got all the cancer and no lymph nodes were involved this was just a precaution so I do not see why they wouldn't do that for other cancers. Lorrie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elkiesmom Posted November 22, 2006 Author Share Posted November 22, 2006 "marym"]Hi, I think in general, lung cancer is not treater with radiation to the lung. I believe the harm done to the lung is unacceptable. Good luck with your tests. Think positive. Mary Thanks mary but I can't help but think that they only did an x ray two months ago and even though it did not show anything we all know that sometimes x rays will not give a true pictureso this next pet and CT scan will show all.I have to reassure ny self that if they find anything it can be treated early but gary will be devestated. he thinks all is well.he is positive and I am a what if type of person. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linda661 Posted November 22, 2006 Share Posted November 22, 2006 My mom was having radiation to her lung (she just got too weak to finish it). But, it wasn't just a blanket blast; it was very targeted with 3 different beams aimed right at the tumour to minimize damage to good lung tissue. Mom's appeared to be one really large tumour, not multiple small ones, though. The nature and number of the tumours must be a factor somewhere in the mix. One tumour too close to the heart, for example, might take radiation out of the picture too if too much heart damage would result. Linda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dihen Posted November 22, 2006 Share Posted November 22, 2006 "elkiesmom"]Maybe they only do the follow up Chemo only for LC I don't know but we were told that even though they thought they got all the cancer and no lymph nodes were involved this was just a precaution so I do not see why they wouldn't do that for other cancers. After my mom's surgery, she did not have to get any chemo, which was really surprising to us because we assumed that was standard protocol, but the more I learn about this awful disease, the more I realize that there are so many different approaches. I really hope that Jim will find the right treatment that works for him - will keep him in my prayers!!! Diane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welthy Posted November 22, 2006 Share Posted November 22, 2006 Multiple mets in the lungs are not candidates for radiation. Can't ruin the organ you are trying to save! Our onc. broke the rule one time only and that was to nuke 1 new met that erupted while others where shrinking and disappearing. Turned out to be for naught though as many of the tumors have reappeared again. But we didn't know how aggressive his cancer would turn out to be, so nuking one was worth a shot. Chemo doublets seemed to be the only thing (and lots of it) that has worked for Tony. He'll be starting that again very, very soon. Good luck and keep us posted on your cousin. Welthy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elkiesmom Posted November 22, 2006 Author Share Posted November 22, 2006 "KatieB"]Alot of it depends on where the tumors are. They do do targeted radiation in some cases, but again, that depends on the size and location of the tumors.Just recently I've learned from members here that there is great chance of heart damage, so this is probably why they are so cautious. Once a CT and/or PET is done, you should have more information. Hoping for the best, keep us posted. Mary I guess you and a lot of the others are right about the rad. Jim did have the pet and ct scan and that is when the onc said no to rad. In his x ray it only showed a 2 1/2 mass but the pet showed them all. Lorrie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWest Posted November 23, 2006 Share Posted November 23, 2006 Radiation is useful for lung cancer in certain circumstances, but not as often when there are multiple spots from cancer. Radiation and surgery are both more useful when there is a single tumor, possibly with some nearby lymph nodes, but rarely used when there are metastatic additional spots elsewhere in the lungs or in other parts of the body. Radiation can also be useful to treat pain (such as painful bone lesions from cancer) or shrink a large tumor area in a hurry (if the cancer is big and pressing on important blood vessels or airways in the chest). But chemotherapy (sometimes also targeted whole body therapy, like tarceva or avastin) is the main type of treatment used if there are multiple areas to treat, because chemo goes through the bloodstream to treat pretty much all throughout the body at once. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calintay Posted November 23, 2006 Share Posted November 23, 2006 My mom had radiation for her tumor. It was a pancoast and located in the upper right lobe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elkiesmom Posted November 23, 2006 Author Share Posted November 23, 2006 Dr West thak you. I thought I knew everything about lC since gary has gone through it.Surgery to take out his upper right lobe to remove a 10 cm mass and then he had the option for Chemo just in case.I am just so baffled by my cousins husband having so many tumors in his lungs. He had the follow up on after the colon and stomach surgery but was never offered chemo to kill any other cancer cell that might have been persent at the time nor had he ever had a pET scan. To me these are all safe guards and I wish his surgeon at sloan had been doing that for the last three years. I do know that my husband has been getting these scans every three months and even though it is scary everytime they do it when you get the ned you can relax and not worry for a few more months.Jim was only getting a colonoscopy (sp) and I feel that wasn't enough. I am sorry I am rambling but Jim is Young only 61 and I feel that this could have been prevented. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWest Posted November 23, 2006 Share Posted November 23, 2006 I certainly don't know the details of the situation, but one of the reasons that surveillance after treatment remains controversial is that there isn't always a clear benefit to finding recurrence early vs. later. Earlier scans might very well have shown the same problem, but he might have found out about it earlier, which wouldn't necessarily be a major benefit. I tend to do scans on the more frequent side, but it's debatable how beneficial that is. I don't know if it will help to think in this way, but spread of cancer from colon to lungs wouldn't generally be much better to find earlier. Just as you can't be just a little pregnant, most of the time having any metastases is an all or none proposition, with rare exceptions. Happy Thanksgiving. -Jack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elkiesmom Posted December 5, 2006 Author Share Posted December 5, 2006 My cousins husband Jim went to sloan yesterday and they agree with his onc in Conn. Today he will start Chemo Carboplatin, Gemzar and Avastin..Has anyone had this combination and what should he expect? I do not know how often or how long Jim will have this treatment. Diane just sent me a quick E mail on her way out with Jim to go to the first Chemo session. Lorrie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kamataca Posted December 5, 2006 Share Posted December 5, 2006 My mom couldn't do radiation to her lung either, because her primary is in the 'good' part of her lungs--same reason she couldn't do surgery. She also has emphysema and COPD in the other part of her lungs. Glad you are getting lots of info. It truly is "ask and ye shall receive" here! Kelly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carolhg Posted December 5, 2006 Share Posted December 5, 2006 I had weekly chemo and daily radiation on my upper right lung and lymph nodes. The tumor all but disappeared and the nodes were free of cancer when I had my surgery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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