For those with BAC or Adeno w/BAC Features

[Fay A.]

This article was posted to the Lung-BAC list by one of it's members:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/quer ... t=Abstract

It supports surgery in multi-focal BAC when there is no lymph node involvement. Dr. Gandara (UC Davis Cancer Center) has a special interest in Lung Cancer and BAC in particular. I've met with Dr. Gandara and he is one of the "Good Guys".

[TBone]

Newcomer TBone here.What are BAC features?I don't see it in the glossary but that is probably because it is so obvious to everyone but me.Love and prayers to and for you all.TBone

[Guest it's Fay A.]

The site won't let me log in. I posted a few things yesterday (I think) that I've just learned posted as a "Guest". Not sure what the problem is.

BAC is the short term for Bronchioloalveolar Carcinoma, a subtype of Adenocarcinoma. BAC doesn't usually "behave" like other forms of Lung Cancer. It's typically slow growing, doesn't usually spread beyond the confines of the lungs (though I'm not so sure about this being "true" anymore, because I've known lots of BACers who have had mets to distant organs, the bones, etc.), and the cells are typically well differentiated.

I have adenocarcinoma with BAC features, and what this means is that my cancer has characteristics of both Bronchioloalveolar Carcinoma and Adenocarcinoma within the same tumor(s). I have the lipidic growth patterns of BAC, as well as multi-focal disease, solid nodules, semi-solid nodules, and non solid lesions. I also have moderate to poorly differentiated cancer cells that are more like the more aggressive forms Adenocarcinoma.

This type of cancer is rare, though the incidence rates are increasing, and up until recently we were able to find out more about BAC and it's variants by looking under Veterinary Medicine sites than Human Medicine. (BAC occurs in sheep, and cats...and people.)

Anyway...there is nothing "obvious" about BAC. I was told by one physician who is an expert in Lung Cancer Research that those of us with BAC have to be activists, because there is so little money allocated to Lung Cancer Research, but especially when it comes to our type of lung cancer. We are at the very bottom of the list...and that is in part because there are (or were) too few of us to warrant much attention. That's changing because the incidence rates of this type of cancer are rising, and the age at diagnosis gets younger and younger. And since they can't blame this one on tobacco smoke exposure (either first or second hand) it's a bit more frightening to John and Jane Public.

So I've probably told you way more than you want to know.

TBone, you're just starting out on this cancer journey. If you have questions then feel free to ask. None of us (except those who work in the medical and molecular biology fields) started out knowing a thing about this. I sure didn't. I ask a lot of questions, and read everything I can get my hands on. Because I believe that if I educate myself on the subject I have a better idea of what treatments are out there, what might work and where I have to go to get what I need.

Wishing you well....

Fay A.

[gail]

Hey thanks Fay, for all that info. I already bookmarked that site.

gail

[Guest It's Fay A.]

One more thing....this study is a good example of how long it takes for one of these studies TO be published, and proves the point that with many things we read the material is outdated by the time it becomes published. The docs at UCDavis gathered information from 1992 through 2000. This study was published in November of 2003. That's 35 months before the information had been evaluated, reviewed, and published. My personal experience and that of many others over the past 4 years 7 months and 24 days (all considered to be anecdotal) has led me to believe that the conclusions drawn by this study are accurate. But when it comes to old cytotoxic chemotherapies, the studies don't always take into consideration new combinations of old drugs that are proving to be more effective in certain individuals (there goes the anecdotal evidence again). Nor do some of these reports take into consideration new therapies, things that didn't exist in 1992, or 1995, for that matter.

We have to educate ourselves, but also bear in mind that medical research is fluid...We have to pay attention to what is working for all of us, and also what is not working...the percentages...what our cell types and grades are...our staging. It's all relevant...and it's all as individual as our own DNA.

Fay A.

[Tiny]

Fay-

Thanks for the post and the reprise of BAC. You are a terrific researcher.

[Guest]

Thank you Fay for the url to this recent study. It backs up my docs' decision to schedule surgery after just an MRI and Cat Scan. My moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma also had BAC features...so I'll be looking forward to any research you come up with. I'll also be traveling through cyberspace digging up info for our cause. Thanks again for your help...I'm behind you 100%.

[dadstimeon]

Hi Fay,

Thanks for the post. You are a wealth of information. Peace, take care and God Bless.

Rich

[The Power Of People Helping People / The Power Of Knowledge / The Power Of God / The Power Of Believing / The Power Of Positive Thinking / The Power Of Never Taking No For An Answer / The Power Of Laughter / United We Stand, Divided We Fall / That’s The Key]

https://cissecure.nci.nih.gov/ncipubs (NCI Publications Locator)

http://www.rfalung.com (Radio Frequency Ablation Of Lung Cancer)

http://www.lungcancercoalition.org (Global Lung Cancer Coalition)

http://www.plwc.org/plwc/MainConstructo ... 008,00.asp (PLWC Feature: Financial Support Resources)

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/nycu/healt ... hqcanc.htm (Best Hospitals)

https://www.alcase.org/advocacy/sign_the_petition.html (Advocacy /Sign the Petition)

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

http://www.plwc.org/plwc/MainConstructo ... 08,00.html (Questions to Ask the Doctor)

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)

http://www.thewellnesscommunity.org/pro ... /guide.asp (The Wellness Community / National Cancer Support, Education And Support / Free)

http://www.drugs.com (Drug Information Online)

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

http://www.nlm.nih.gov (Unites States / National Library Of Medicine)

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/encyclopedia.html (Health Information / Medical Encyclopedia)

http://www.google.com (Great Search Engine)

http://blochcancer.org (R.A. Bloch Cancer Foundation, Inc. / Please read: A Letter to all newly diagnosed cancer patients)

http://www.cancer.org (American Cancer Society)

http://www.cancer.gov (Cancer Information Service / NCI)

http://www.cancerresearchcenter.org (Cancer Research Center)

http://www.aicr.org (American Institute for Cancer Research; Nutrition Hotline / AICR)

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)

[stoydc]

Fay,

We just went for a second opinion at UCD medical center and saw Dr. Angela Davies (lung ca specialist) who told my dad that she thinks he has BAC also. He has a large tumor in the left lung and several smaller ones in the right and left lungs. She is recommending Iressa and although the clinical trial for Iressa is closed, she said she was able to get Iressa for one of her patients when that patient's insurance didn't cover it. She will call my Dad's MD at Kaiser and hopefully he will also want to prescribe Iressa. I doubt if Iressa is on the formulary for Kaiser so we will have to try to get it directly from Eli Lilly or pay for it. Thanks for all the research you've done on BAC. Supposedly the prognosis for BAC is better than regular ol' adenocarcinoma. shirley

[Donna G]

Wow. That was very interesting Fay. I would think that there are people out there with bilateral tumors and no lymph node involvement that have been told Stage IV and get ready to get your affairs in order that according to this study COULD BE CURED ! Thanks for this info! Donna G