Number of lymph nodes with metastisis

robinleigh
robinleigh Member Posts: 297
in Head and Neck Cancer #1
My husband seems to have had a lot of involved lymph nodes in comparison to others here They removed 70 nodes and said at least 14 were involved. Mostly I read people here have 2 or 4 lymphs involved. He had a clear PET scan concerning metastisis elsewhere. I don't know if the number is a discouraging fact or if they go in with aggressive treatment intending to kill it all...Andy factual information?

Comments

  • Skiffin16
    Skiffin16 Member Posts: 8,305 Member
    #2
    Dissection
    I believe actually there have been several on here that have had similar treatments. You just may not have read of them specifically. I'm sure that some will chime in to your thread.

    I wouldn't get overly concerned just yet, like you mentioned, it's aggressive, but they want to make sure they get as many nodes as might be suspect.

    Thoughts and Prayers,
    John
  • soccerfreaks
    soccerfreaks Member Posts: 2,788 Member
    #3
    Nodes
    In my case, in addition to cancer on the tongue (squamous cell carcinoma, stating of which may be a redundancy in this place), they found two of 17 lymph nodes with the same cancer and classified my cancer as Stage IIIB: mets to the nodes.

    This meant, of course, a radical neck dissection in addition to the tongue stuff, but it also means that for whatever reason they did not check as many nodes as they did in your husband's case, which may be a very good thing for your hub, as both John and you seem to suggest re aggressiveness.

    Personally, despite the docs' prognosis of 'mets' to the nodes, I always considered this a single instance of cancer and still do. Had they been, say, in my liver, I clearly would have thought differently about the matter, but being in the neck, so close to my mouth/tongue and, at least in my mind, part of the same 'operational set', if you will, I considered it one cancer. Maybe that is because they did all the cutting at once. And maybe it is completely wrong. But that is my take.

    As John, suggests, be patient and hope for the best. There are so many stories of success on this board that one cannot help but do so unless told otherwise.

    I wish your husband and his family the best.

    Take care,

    Joe
  • luv4lacrosse
    luv4lacrosse Member Posts: 1,410 Member
    #4
    NODES
    Robinleigh, I had 23 nodes removed and 19 of them were cancerous. I was restaged from a 4A to a 4B and just had my 6 month all clear exam last Wednesday. As long as they get them all, is all I cared about. I figure 19 removed and all clear is better than a couple with one left behind.

    Mike
  • Greg53
    Greg53 Member Posts: 849
    #5
    luv4lacrosse said:

    NODES
    Robinleigh, I had 23 nodes removed and 19 of them were cancerous. I was restaged from a 4A to a 4B and just had my 6 month all clear exam last Wednesday. As long as they get them all, is all I cared about. I figure 19 removed and all clear is better than a couple with one left behind.

    Mike

    Robinleigh
    Robin,

    I was a lot like my buddy Mike (luv4lacrosse). Originally staged 4A. Had SCC right tonsil with 2 known lymphs showing up on pre-surgery ct/pet. After rad neck dissection where they removed 63 nodes, they found 11 nodes with cancer, some with extracapsular spread. At that point they restaged me 4B. Ten nodes were on right side, the remaining one on the left. They could not remove the one on the left due to it being wrapped around my jugular as they removed my jugular on the right side due to one of the nodes being wrapped around it.

    I'm a little over 1 year out and NED. And I plan on keeping those NEDs coming for years to come. As others have said, there are lots of success stories out there, no reason your husband shouldn't be in that group too!

    Positive thoughts!

    Greg

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