Linking you to resources and support in the lung cancer community!
SCLC - Recurrent
A brief history here - my husband was diagnosed 1/11 with SCLC, 3 tumors in lung, one in each hip, one in liver. Had six rounds of carbo/etop, finished in June and the PET Scan after that showed two lung tumors gone, one very streaky and much smaller, liver tumor gone, one in his hip gone, the other hip much smaller.
He just had a PET Scan last Monday - we'll see the doctor this Wednesday, but he picked up the PET Scan results this morning. It's pretty clear. The liver tumor is back, although very small - others are either non-existant or not active.
So, we see this as fairly good news, although we are concerned about it coming back to the liver. We knew it could probably come back. We're sure the doctor will want to do more chemo.
What I'm asking is, should we be afraid it's starting all over again, or be glad it's only showing one small tumor after no treatment since June?
Views: 203
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by AmyLCA on -
Hi littlelady4220,
Recurrent SCLC is a tough thing to deal with. If I understand correctly, if the recurrence happens within 6 months of initial treatment, they will likely use a different drug. If there had been a longer time without the cancer coming back, they would have repeated the drugs he was given the first time.
I think it's good that most of the tumor is still gone. Hopefully the liver tumor will respond to the next treatment options. When SCLC is advanced, it has a tendency to come back, which makes it particularly challenging, but there are still treatment options to try.
Amy
-
Permalink Reply by littlelady4220 on -
Thank you. We see the oncologist later this morning and hopefully will get some good answers.
-
Permalink Reply by littlelady4220 on
-
An update - doctor has him now doing chemo again, topotecan. 1/2 hour per day for three days, then three weeks off. He started it last week. Then a scan after the second round. Doctor says that this chemo has a 30-35% chance of working, as opposed to the carbo/etop that was 85-90%.
-
Permalink Reply by billyv on
-
Hi, do you know the dose of the topotecan, just 1/2hour per day that is very short does he get any iv before thanks Bill
-
Permalink Reply by billyv on
-
Hi, small cell lung cancer does respond well to first line of chemo,but sorry to say most of the time it comes back ,I hope is dose not . Bill
-
Permalink Reply by littlelady4220 on
-
I don't know the dose, but he has had five rounds and the doctor decided to stop the chemo. He ended up in the hospital last week for one night. He had diarhhea so bad he lost 11 pounds in a 24-hour period and was dehydrated. He's okay now but his kidney functions at the time were horrible. The doctor said it was probably a virus, and I dont' believe that. He has had diarhhea every single time after Topotecan and the doctor is adamant that has nothing to do with it. For me, it's just a process of elimination.
My husband takes a PET Scan next month to see what is going on. I don't know what to think anymore and my husband thinks this doctor walks on water - I'm beginning to distrust him.
Thank you for answering my questions.
© 2012 Created by AmyLCA.
