No mutation put positive pdl1

[Salem]

My dad got his results back and there is no mutation detected. He has pdl1 which is the good thing. Does anyone know if no mutation has any impact on reoccurrence after curative treatment? Is there any positive what so every to having no mutation. This is for stage 3 adenocarcinoma.

[RJN]

Hello Salem,

I don’t think there is any hard evidence that specific mutations change the rate of recurrence, although there is some suggestion (still unproven) that certain mutations hinder or help the efficacy of Keytruda and other immunotherapies. Mutations are mostly important to determine type of treatment available, as there are targeted treatment available for a few mutations. Re PDL - yes that is positive. However, PDL1 is measured as a percentage, and there is some evidence that a high level is associated with better outcomes for immunotherapy, so you may want to ask about the PDL1 percentage. Here in the UK, if the level is below 50% they will combine immunotherapy with chemo, but those over 50% get immunotherapy alone.

Hope this helps, Rikke

[catlady91]

Sorry I'm late to this. Lung cancer with mutations is treated differently to lung cancer without mutations (pdl 1). LC with mutations tend to be treated with targeted therapies and those without mutations and who have a certain level of pdl 1 are treated with immunotherapy. I don't think that immunotherapy is effective for LC with mutations and vice versa. My mum was treated with immunotherapy as she didn't have any mutations. 

I'm not sure which has a better outcome - LC with mutations or without. I've tried to research it but there's not much info. The most important thing to remember is that treatment has come a long way and there's different but effective treatment for whatever type of lung cancer you have. Both immunotherapy and targeted therapy can be extremely effective. Lung cancer is no longer treated the same way as in the past which was a one size fits all treatment. Now we know that lung cancer is not one disease, but there are many diff aspects that require different treatment. Stay positive. The most important thing to remember is that there have been major advances in treatment and there are many treatment options. 

[Karen_L]

I second what @catlady said. I would add that looking at statistics about recurrence and survival rates is generally useless, for many reasons. Most important, no statistic can predict what will happen for your dad. 

Hang in and try to take this one day at a time. 

Karen