dad's scan results - when does chemo start to work?

[Guest a.]

Hi,

My father recently reached the half-way mark for his chemo - he completed three rounds of cisplatin/VP16. Last week he had scans done to see how the chemo is working, and we got the results today. The doctor said that the tumor in his lung has shrunk, but that the liver looks more or less the same. He said he considers the shrinking of the lung tumor to be a sign that the cancer is responding to the chemo, and told my dad that he'll have three more rounds (as originally planned.)

I'm worried about the liver not being any different. Is there a chance that his liver tumor will shrink with the next three rounds of chemo? Does chemo shrink the primary tumor first? Is this response too slow?

Please help,

a.

[AnneBurris]

My mom took the same chemo combo as yours. She did have positive results on her liver at the halfway or more point in her chemo treatment, so it was working for her. However, her CT scan after her 6th treatment showed the cancer growing back again in the liver and she has discomfort in that area. Right now she is on a drug called Gleevec, and we're just kind of waiting to see how this goes.

Hope things go well for you.