re: Radiation results - testing before 5 weeks

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musiclover
musiclover Member Posts: 242
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
On a visit to the radiologist with my friend, one of my questions was "when will he get tested to see if the radiation is working?" The doctor replied that no testing (MRI/CT) is done until the entire regimen is given. I thought that was odd - what if the tumor in question shrinks significantly before the 5 week point? Why would it be necessary to continue the radiation if there is nothing to radiate? To me that seems dangerous. To the doctor, he was adament about my friend getting the full 5 weeks. Any thoughts on this?? Thanks!

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  • houseofclay
    houseofclay Member Posts: 63
    #2
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    During my husband's pre-op radiation and chemo, they took a picture each week (not a CT or MRI--more like an x-ray) and the doctor could get a general idea of how the tumor was responding. My husband's rectal tumor was large and we had no expectation that it would disappear. Not knowing how large a tumor is involved, I hate to make general statements but did the radiation oncologist give you the impression that the tumor will completely disappear? Another benefit of the radiation is to kill any cells that have penetrated the bowel wall, so five weeks seems reasonable. There are very strict guidelines for how much radiation can be given to any area, so I think the doctor will monitor the situation closely. I hope that helps.
  • alihamilton
    alihamilton Member Posts: 347 Member
    #3
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    I think that 5 weeks is the standard time for radiotherapy to be effective...they do not encourage any shorter time unless there are serious complications. Don't forget too, that too many ct scans are not good either.
  • ron50
    ron50 Member Posts: 1,723 Member
    #4
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    Hi musiclover,
    My understanding is that all of the treatments have a plus factor timewise to ensure that they do the job completely. It is just like anti-biotics the box always tells you to take the entire course , quite a few of the resistent strains of bacteria have eventuated from people immunising the bacteria by stopping the teartment when they thought they were ok. Far better to err on the side of overkill when it comes to ca , I was given the option of stopping chem early but i went the full course and I've been clear for close to 8 yrs. Cheers Ron
  • jana11
    jana11 Member Posts: 705
    #5
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    houseofclay said:

    During my husband's pre-op radiation and chemo, they took a picture each week (not a CT or MRI--more like an x-ray) and the doctor could get a general idea of how the tumor was responding. My husband's rectal tumor was large and we had no expectation that it would disappear. Not knowing how large a tumor is involved, I hate to make general statements but did the radiation oncologist give you the impression that the tumor will completely disappear? Another benefit of the radiation is to kill any cells that have penetrated the bowel wall, so five weeks seems reasonable. There are very strict guidelines for how much radiation can be given to any area, so I think the doctor will monitor the situation closely. I hope that helps.

    I think they do the x-ray to confirm placement of the radiation beams. In case the person looses weight - they will shift on the radiation table and the beams need to be slightly adjusted.

    Xrays won't give a clear idea of anything for most tumors. Radiation will hopefully kill the tumor, but the scar remains. You have to go in and cut it out to see if it was completely effective.

    Hope this helps. jana

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