sch1979 Posted December 18, 2018 Share Posted December 18, 2018 Has anyone had mixed results from chemo/immunotherapy? My uncle was diagnosed with stage iv nsclc (exon 20 mutation) in April. It has spread to the bones, lymph nodes and adrenal glands. He did 6 rounds of chemo with immunotherapy (alimta/keytruda/carbo) and then continued with keytruda/alimta. We just received his first PET and brain MRI results since his initial diagnosis and while some of the cancer shrunk, some grew and there are new lesions not seen in April. The oncologist said not to be alarmed and wants to continue immunotherapy and re-test in three months. Is that a typical response/course of treatment for mixed results from chemo? I'm very concerned about the new growth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Galli Posted December 19, 2018 Share Posted December 19, 2018 Sch, I’ve found there is no typical in lung cancer. I’ve often heard that existing tumors grow after immunotherapy and that growth is explained as inflammation from the immunotherapy assault. I’ve heard less frequently that new mets appear after immunotherapy. So your uncle’s response kind of aligns with “typical”, the new mets being rather unusual. Keytruda is good stuff. Give it a chance and we’ll know a lot more in 3 months. Stay the course. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steff Posted December 19, 2018 Share Posted December 19, 2018 My mom had Keytruda + Alimta/Carbo for 6 sessions and then proceeded with Keytruda only. She had what looked like progression around her tumor for quite sometime. The docs suspected inflammation, but watched it closely in regular scans. As Tom said, seeing initial "growth" is pretty typical in immunotherapy; new lesions, not so much. But that does not mean that the treatment is not working. Those lesions could have grown between initial scan and treatment starting. Unless a scan was taken the day treatment started, we just don't know. Take Care, Steff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BridgetO Posted December 19, 2018 Share Posted December 19, 2018 I wonder, and this is just speculation, whether he could have more than one type or subtype of lung cancer at the same time, and some responding better or differently than others. Has anybody experienced this? A co-worker of mine had 3 kinds of breast cancer at the same time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulaC Posted December 19, 2018 Share Posted December 19, 2018 5 hours ago, BridgetO said: I wonder, and this is just speculation, whether he could have more than one type or subtype of lung cancer at the same time, and some responding better or differently than others. Has anybody experienced this? A co-worker of mine had 3 kinds of breast cancer at the same time. BridgetO, my oncologist is suggesting that I had two types and I’m still not clear on it. The fortunate thing for me is the treatment worked on both. Squamish cell and adenocarcinoma. 🤷♀️ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sch1979 Posted March 17, 2019 Author Share Posted March 17, 2019 I just wanted to update that after three more mos, the disease is progressing. The treatment is not working. I am posting under another topic re: options. Thanks to all who responded here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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