Stabilized lung cancer?

[Anais]

Hello,

I have a question, maybe some of you could answer me.

My mother (60 y. old, non smoker) was diagnosed with NSCLC in April 2003, she had 6 cycles of Carbo/Gemcitabine and 6 cycles of Navelbine. The last CT report says 'stabilized disease'. The oncologist will put her on Gemcitabine for 6 more cycles and will stop, because the chemo could be too toxic.

How long can a person live with stable disease? A few years, a few months? When they will stop the chemo, the cancer will spread, no?

Thanks, happy holidays to all,

Anaïs

[Ry]

Anais (love that name) ~

After chemo they put my husband on Iressa and it is keeping his cancer stable. Maybe they are thinking of something similar for your mother. Why not ask them about it?

[dadstimeon]

Hi Anais,

It’s good that your mom’s disease is stable. Chemo (it can and does affect other cells and organs at times) is toxic and yes we do need to take breaks from it. Like Ry says it is best to ask the doctor to clarify things. Also ask the doctor what they plan on doing as far as monitoring your mom between treatments. Nobody can say for sure how long. The unknown is the hardest part of going thru this. I think it is best to take one step at a time and one day at a time. I’m going on Iressa for maintenance in January after being on (from Dec 2002 thru Nov 2003) chemo. Hope this helps. Peace, take care and God Bless.

Rich

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http://www.cancersymptoms.org (Oncology Nursing Society)

http://www.plwc.org/plwc/MainConstructo ... 08,00.html http://www.alcase.org/education/publica ... reath.html (With Every Breath A Lung Cancer Guidebook / From ALCASE / A Wealth Of Information / Free)

http://www.cancersurvivaltoolbox.org (The Cancer Survival Toolbox / Free / From NCCS)

http://www.centerwatch.com (Clinical Trails Listing Service / Center Watch)

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&editi ... ung+cancer (Lung Cancer In The News)

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http://www.alcase.org (ALCASE / Alliance For Lung Cancer Advocacy, Support, Education)

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http://www.cancerhopenetwork.org (Cancer Hope Network)

http://www.acor.org (Association of Cancer Online Resources / Free Online Lifeline For Everyone Affected By Cancer & Related Disorders)

http://www.meds.com/lung/lunginfo.html (Lung Cancer Information Library)

http://www.lungusa.org (American Lung Association)

http://www.ama-assn.org (American Medical Association)

http://www.docguide.com/news/content.ns ... g%20Cancer (Doctor’s Guide / Lung Cancer)

http://www.healthfinder.gov/Scripts/Sea ... ?topic=506 (Healthfinder)

http://www.medicinenet.com/Lung_Cancer/article.htm (Medicine Net)

http://www.cancerindex.org/clinks2l.htm (Cancer Index / Lung Cancer Resources Directory)

http://www.nfcr.org/site/PageServer?pag ... ncers_lung (National Foundation For Cancer Research)

http://www.patientadvocate.org (Patient Advocate Foundation)

http://www.lungcanceronline.org/effects ... fects.html (Lung Cancer Online / Hematologic (Blood) Effects)

http://www.cancerlinks.org/lung.html (Lung Cancer Links)

http://www.cancer-free.com (Cancer Free Connections)

http://www.healthinsite.gov.au/topics/C ... ung_cancer (Health Insite)

http://www.lungcancerclaims.com (Lung Cancer / Lung Cancer Information Page)

http://www.cancerlifecenter.com/engine. ... =dictionar (Cancer Life Center/ Cancer Dictionary)

http://www.canceryellowpages.com/Resour ... G%20CANCER (Cancer yellow Pages)

http://icare.org (ICARE / The International Cancer Alliance)

http://www.vh.org/index.html (Virtual Hospital)

http://www.lungcanceronline.org/support/financial.html (Lung Cancer Online / Financial, Legal & Insurance Issues)

http://cancernews.healthology.com/focus ... cancernews (Cancer News)

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[Anais]

Thank you very much.

We live in Canada and Iressa is not approved yet.

Anaïs

[Don Wood]

"Stable" and "no new" and "no growth" are good phrases with lung cancer. Have happy holidays. Don