If scans are clean, does the ONC decide to stop chemo?

I also will share my personal experience

Just to add infomation, but certainly not telling you what to do. 

I was diagnosed in 2012. In 2014 I had one liver met, which I had Ablated. After my follow-up scans, showing no evidence of disease, and a CEA that had dropped significantly, my Oncologist, after conferring with another specialist, decided to watch and wait. So I have not had any chemo since the Ablation. I am almost a year out from my Ablation, with clear scans and good CEA. 

I hope you and your mum can have a good discussion with your Oncologist, asking him/her why he thinks she needs more chemo. If you are not satisfied with his/her answers, there is the option of getting a second opinion. 

If you are 100% confortable with the treatment you have recieved from your Oncologist that is good, but anything short of 100%, I would definitely have someone else review the case. 

Good luck! I am happy to hear your mum has clear scans, and I am sure she is eager to give the chemo a rest. 

Sue - Trubrit

saussureainvolucrata said:

Amy and Trubrit

Thanks a lot for sharing your experiences! It (like Amy said) certainly adds a valuable data point to our information set. We'll have a discussion with our ONC tomorrow, and I will make sure to ask him for his reasons behind wishing to continue with the chemo. Personally, I think Amy's doctor's point about continued chemo in the face of clean scans possibly being "counter-productive" (reducing its effectiveness in the long term, when the chemo might be really needed) is very important. Thanks again for your information! 

Continued treatment

my scans were clear after 8 months of chemo, but my onc recommended to keep up with maintenance chemo.  He said that if I stop there was 100% chance it would come back (due to me not having surgery).  I opted to quit chemo for the holiday season so I would feel better.  The holiday season is over and I'm still not getting chemo (staying on Avastin alone).  I may go back on it if the tumors come back, but for me it was a choice of quality of life.  If I'm still doing ok, I'd rather not be sick for 3/4ths of each month.  im not sure if it's the best choice, but from what I've gathered is that maintenance chemo is good as long as you're otherwise healthy and can tolerate the side effects.  Once the side effects interfere with your quality of life, it may be doing more harm than good.

mom_2_3 said:

Saussurea

Saussurea,

 

I can't advise you as to what your mom should do with respect to her treatment but I can provide my own experience to you as a data point for her decision.

Diagnosed in November 2008 I had 5 liver tumors on both sides of the liver.  I did 4 FOLFOX treatments and then scheduled a liver/colon resection.  I had one more treatment before my surgery date.  In Feb 2009 I had about half my liver removed as well as the colon tumor removed.  Additionally I had an HAI (hepatic arterial infusion pump) implanted.  After 6 weeks I returned to chemo and had both systemic chemo (1 more FOLFOX and the rest just 5FU) and liver-specific chemotherapy (FUDR) until November 2009.  so I had about 7 more months of chemo after my surgery.

At that point my doctor decided that we would take a wait-and-see approach and that to continue to do chemo with no visible disease was counter-productive (would continue to tax the liver and other side effects).  Additionally she felt that taking chemo with no visible disease would make that particular treatment less effective if I truly needed it in the future.  Since Nov 2009 I had been off all treatment and I have had clean scans for almost 6 years (as of Feb 20 it will 6 years since my surgery).  

I am actually scheduled for the removal of my HAI pump next month.  My surgeon feels chance of recurrence in my liver is level with the general population.

My doctor is pre-eminent in the field of colon cancer with metastases to the liver.  She helped pioneer the HAI pump and is well-regarded.  Her practice is at Memorial Sloan Kettering in NYC.

Wish you the best as your mom decides which path to pursue. There is no easy answer but at least you know that some have gone the other route and have had success (knock on wood!!).

If you desire more information, PM me.

 

Best regards, 

Amy

 

Doctor's name

Hi Amy -

I would love to get your doctor's name at Sloan Kettering in NYC.  We live in NJ.

My dad who is 77 has colorectal cancer that just recently spread to his liver.  His is doing IV chemo now.  He has had about 5-6 treatments.  He will go for a scan on Monday to see if the liver tumors have decreased in size, and to check and see all of his pother organs, etc.

I would really appreciate it if you could send me your doctor's name.  I would love to see her about the HAI pump for my Dad.

Thanks so much,

Maria