Hi everyone....there are so many new people here! Hope God is answering all of your prayers!

Just a little background for those that don't know my mom.

She had lung cancer in the lower right lobe. She also had brain mets which puts her at stage IV.

Her brain tumor was removed entirely. It was fluid filled and cystic, however a portion of the outer shell was cancer. It revealed the lung as the primary source.

She had head radiation 14 sessions and they just graduated her from all head issues last week after 2 MRI's revealed all is OK!

Back to the lung...........

Mom had chemo 3 times so far. Every 3 weeks she goes for carbo/taxol. She has handled it very well. The Kytrill (sp?) has worked wonders.

After 2 times receiving chemo, they did a cat scan which revealed 30% shrinkage. Is this good? Does anyone know about what is the normal % for shrinkage? It went from 70m to 60m. they seemed pleased.

The dr's want her to do chemo 2 more times and then if there is additional shrinkage, they said they want to have a meeting with some dr's (surgeons I presume) (we didn't ask)...to discuss what they want to do from there. I am not sure what else a panal of Dr's, other than surgeons they could possible want to meet with.

What do you all think about that?

The dr. also said he isn't completely sure the tumor is ALL cancer. They are under suspicion that it is partial fatty tissue and dead cells.

She did have a petscan before the chemo started, and the lung was the only place it lit up.

I have no doubt the power of prayer, and the Lord are blessing us, giving us strength, and giving us the Dr's we need. We don't make a move without praying!

Angel

Hi.. From my limited knowledge, when my mother started her treatment, the oncologist said that he would order another CT and PET scan in 2 months and if the cancer either stopped growing or if there was some shrinkage, that would be a positive sign. She was stage IV at the time. So I would think that 30% shrinkage is encouraging...God bless, Kris

Hi Kris, and thanks!

Did your mom have the treatments? Did she get the shrinkage?

Would love to hear your story!

God Bless you!

Angel

Angel, my mom has been taking Tarceva and she had significant shrinkage of her tumor, so much so that the oncologist said "it was gone". He was very happy with her progress and remission. She must take the Tarceva every day for the rest of her life. There is a possibility of relapse with Tarceva, so we are thankful to God and taking things one day at a time. She has another appointment and xrays in early November, so we'll see how things go. She is feeling better with every passing day. Take good care. Kris

Hi Angel,
30% shrinkage is great!!! I am new to the board so can you please tell me if the cancer in the lungs is Small Cell or Large? Does you mom go for chemo 3 times a week or 1 time a week? What stage did they find the cancer in? I am asking these questions due to having gone through this with my mom. In a PET scan, any thing that show up as a hot spot is cancerous cell (from the way that it was explained to me) and PET Scans are wonderful!!! They also have now what is called the PET/MRI Scan that can help show the tumor are better. I do wish you and your mother the best and please take advantege of every minute that you have with her. It has now been 8 months for me since my mother has been gone and it still feels like yesterday. I will say an extra prayer for you and you mother tonight. God Bless

Wow, thank you Gracie for your post.

My mom has the non-small cell andenocarcenoma............we found out about it from brain mets. She had lost movement on her left side and a cat scan and MRI revealed the brain tumor and spot on the lung.

We first had the tumor on the brain removed. It was cystic and fluid filled with an outer portion cancerous. Test revealed the primary source was the lung. She had some radiation in the head as a precaution, however, she has been cleared of all head cancer.

The lung tumor lit up on a pet scan. That is all that lit up (praise God).......She underwent 2 chemo sessions/lines....not sure the proper wording. She is getting taxol and carbo 1 time every 3 weeks. After the 2, she had a cat scan which revealed the 30% shrinkage. They want her to do 2 more (she has done one more).....her 2nd one will be on November 9th. Then she will have another petscan (her 2nd one) to see what has happened. If there is more shrinkage, the oncologist said he will sit down with a panel of dr's to see what they want to do next. Not sure what that could mean.

We are praying for success. It would be great if we could have surgery, or at least try the tarceva. My mom was a smoker, however the other criteria is met with the nsclc, and the andenocarcenoma. If you go on the american cancer societys home page, their is a tarcenva success story, and she smoked.

How do they check for the genetic match? 10% is not very good..........

Grace, did your mom have shrinkage? If so, how much? Please, I would love to hear your story.........

prayers to you........

angel

Angel,

My mom too was a non smoker with Stage IV NSCLC -adenocarcinoma. She had Taxol, Carbonplatin X 4 rounds as her first line chemo and got pretty good shrinkage so was given a two month chemo break this was back in 2004, so I do not remember what % of shrinkage there was. During that 2 months the cancer started growing again and she got an obstructive pneumonia so was put on Irressa which was switched to the newly released Tarceva the next month. The Tarceva totally did away with the lung tumor and even to this day there is no tumor in her lung: However she had liver mets from the start and while the Tarceva at first knocked them way back and did away with a few( she has multiple liver mets) it eventually stopped working on them so it was back to chemo, alimta and after it quit working on then to Taxotere with Gemzar and now Hospice. Another drug to consider is Avastin ( they would not give it to my mom because of her age she is now 82 and the doctor feels the risk of a heart attack or stroke from it is greatly increased in the elderly, however just last week when mom told him she wanted no more chemo opting for quality verses quanity of life , he offers her avastin and one of her past chemo's which she said no too). I do think the chance of beating cancer right now for some people lays with Tarceva and avastin, RFA or cyberknife when necessary and good nutrition( including supplements) to build up the immune system. Hopefully HKI 272 will be on the market soon as it can take over for some when they quit responding to Tarceva.

Lance Armstrong's web site has a lung cancer survival story, awhile back I met the guy on yet another message board.

I wish your mother the best of luck in her battle as I have said I want nothing more then to see some one from this board with advanced lung cancer win the battle, maybe your mom can be the one! She will be in my prayers. JanMarie;)

Wow, JanMarie, I'm so sorry about your mother and thanks for sharing her story.

My mother too went had a pet scan and brain scan to see if there were mets from NSCLC adenocarcinoma stage III. She has been on Gem, Avastin and something else I can't remember right now.

Last week when we went back for the results the Doctor said she is completely clear of cancer, including the orginal lung cancer.

While this is unbeliveable news I was wondering if it might return down the line. I hate being so gloomy, but it has taken a toll on us too.

She is doing two more sets of chemo, but I'm wondering if she shouldn't do one once in a while later anyway.

Did you know that your mom had liver mets or did that come up later?

After reading these posts here I am wondering if they are not making significant progress on this type of cancer with the recent drugs ??? My mother smoked for over 50 years.

My heart goes out to you all.

Hi excess..........

I am not Janmarie, but I am the original poster on this bb thread. Janmarie, you are so in my thoughts and prayers, I ache for you.............I will post to you next.

I wanted to tell you excess, that stage 3, and avastin are the success your mom needed. she had early detection which you should also be greatful for.

You need not worry so much about the mets end of it. Most of the time, from what I have read and diagnosed on-line, mets happens at the same time the cancer has been found. The chemo should wipe out any free floating cells in the body (if there were any), and she should do well with the shrinkage. I am happy for you..

My mother also smoked for 50 years. I know the tarceva works better on non-smokers, although, genetically, lung cancer runs in my moms family, so maybe there is a genetic factor there. I still don't know how they test for this.,.....

And, seeing as my mom had brain mets, they can't use the avastin, as it can caiuse fatal bleeding to the brain.

We are relying solely on the chemo.............and hopefully surgery by the grace of God!

My prayers are with you also.........

JanMarie (hugs)))))))))))) you have been a valuable source of info to thi bb.......

(((((((((((((((((((((((hugs))))))))))))) )))

Anne Marie

Anne,
I thought I had posted to your posting, but realized it did not appear. My husband had a 30% reduction with his 1st line of chemo that he had from July 05 to Sept 05. He had some really good months with no chemo treatments from Sept. 14 to Jan. 8th. He felt really good up until about the middle of December and he started having stronger aches and pains and was not the same and was scheduled for scans at the end of December and got the flu so had to wait until the 2nd week in Jan. 06. He started his 2nd line of chemo at that point since the 30% shrinkage he had was back. BUT...my husband has SCLC and I believe you mentioned your mom has NSLC and I hear they respond differently. How is your mom doing?
God Bless You,
Kim

Anne Marie, (Angel), Thanks for the information you gave me. I hope that you mom is doing well and she can be healed.

I am wondering, are you saying that stage III is not advanced? I thought that it was. that is why I had such a gloomy thoughts on it. I thought the Stage III meant that there were mets, although that was never confirmed because they did not want to do the lymph testing and they were waiting for the chemo to do as much as possible first. I guess since they never confirmed that she may not have had the mets.

We also had my uncle with cancer, but he had sclc years ago and didn't make it. At that time he didn't do the chemo because he chose an alternative medicine in the 80's things were very different. I did not consider this a genetic link, but maybe it is.

You and your mom are in my prayers. Take care...

kimlos,

Hi kiddo, sorry I haven't been here. Myself, and my 2 kids were sick, etc....it really piles all at once.

Yes, mom had NSCLC........Did your husband ever show an additional shrinkage after the 30%, or did they stop the chemo at that point? Can you explain? They want my mom to do 2 more chemos and scans after that.......they said if there is additional shrinkage they will sit down with a panel of dr's to see what they want to do from there. Any idea what that could be? Maybe to stop the chemo? I didn't think they stopped the chemo. Wow! I was hoping they would do surgery...............

God Bless you, and more prayers your way, how is your husband?

My mom is doing "ok", some good and bad days.

((((((((((((((hugs))))))))))))

Angel

excess,

Stage III means it has spread to the lymphnodes, but no other organs. When it spreads beyond the nodes, it becomes stage IV. Hope this helps!

How is it going?

Angel