Squamous Carcinoma StageII 10 cm tumor in sub-mucosa lower esophagus just above stomach not yet spre

Uisge-beatha

Hello all.
I seek input from people who have personal experience of treatment for this specific type of cancer. I am Male age 59 and otherwise quite healthy, I have been active all my life and am trying to identify the best options for quality of life not just longevity.

I have been advised that two Chemo sessions (96 hrs Cisplatin and 5FU) followed by Surgery is the number one choice. I am currently finishing my first Chemo course.

I am interested in feedback regards:
1. Quality of life following Chemo / surgery.
2. Chemo Radiation as a first option.
3. Chemo Radiation and then possibly surgery.

I would be grateful for all constructive input.

Callaloo

Sorry about your diagnosis
But the good news is that your prognosis is very good. In my community, or at least at the cancer center where I am being treated, I think that the recommended treatment for stage II is for the 2 pre-op chemo sessions of Cisplatin and 5FU, such as you are receiving, plus concurrent radiation, anywhere from 10 to 28 sessions, typically beginning with the first chemo infusion, followed by surgery.

It's possible that your doctors didn't think your tumor was large enough to justify the radiation, but I've been told that it's good to try to shrink the tumor nonetheless to make surgery safer and easier. I don't really know because surgery wasn't an option for me so I didn't look into it in great detail.

I had 4 sessions of the same chemo you are receiving, plus radiation, and I recovered in less than 2 months to near normal life. But then, again, I didn't have the surgery to contend with. I will say, however, that I suspect the radiation is the source of the chronic pain I have in my mid-back region, so radiation carries it's own set of risks.

There are many others on this board who can speak to the quality of life following surgery.

Best wishes for a fast recovery for you,
Lu

hopper52

SQUAMOUS CELL/ADENOCARCINOMA
I too am stage IIa (T3N0M0) and currently undergoing chemo and radiation with surgery to follow. Mine is adenocarcinoma not squamous cell but I believe the treatment regimen is the same.

I am 20 treatments into my radiation and am doing cisplatin and Xeloda (a pill form of 5FU). I'm handling it fairly well. Biggest issue with me is fatigue and swallowing. I'm pretty much down to liquids only. I didn't have a J-tube installed due to being on blood thinners (another bridge to cross when surgery time comes).

From what I gather from this site, if surgery is possible then do it. It only takes a lingering cell or two for the cancer to come back and it appears to come back with a vengance. I've also read here of initial diagnoses with no lymph involvement and find out after the surgery the cancer was present in local nodes.....so another good reason for surgery.

I'm sure some of the folks here will send you much more detailed information than I have since I am still relatively new. Good luck and feel free to ask any questions. There's a lot of knowledge on this site.

Michael Daniels
Brandon, FL

Donna70

hopper52 said:

SQUAMOUS CELL/ADENOCARCINOMA
I too am stage IIa (T3N0M0) and currently undergoing chemo and radiation with surgery to follow. Mine is adenocarcinoma not squamous cell but I believe the treatment regimen is the same.

I am 20 treatments into my radiation and am doing cisplatin and Xeloda (a pill form of 5FU). I'm handling it fairly well. Biggest issue with me is fatigue and swallowing. I'm pretty much down to liquids only. I didn't have a J-tube installed due to being on blood thinners (another bridge to cross when surgery time comes).

From what I gather from this site, if surgery is possible then do it. It only takes a lingering cell or two for the cancer to come back and it appears to come back with a vengance. I've also read here of initial diagnoses with no lymph involvement and find out after the surgery the cancer was present in local nodes.....so another good reason for surgery.

I'm sure some of the folks here will send you much more detailed information than I have since I am still relatively new. Good luck and feel free to ask any questions. There's a lot of knowledge on this site.

Michael Daniels
Brandon, FL

successful treatment always surgery
Hi,
I was dx'd T3N1MO and given radiation and Cisplatin and 5fU 2 cycles and then surgery, Ivor Lewis and only one positive node found after that. The tumor and other positive node were destroyed by the treatment before surgery. Always go with surgery, EC is relentless and loves to come back and give yourself the best chance of survival by surgery. I had post op chemo because of the one positive node and now all clear CT scans,my 2 yr anniversary from surgery will be this December. My recovery took about 7 months because of the more involved surgery and complications from radiation and treatment but I am up and doing everything I did before and cherishing every day with my family and friends. Good luck to you, may you have a swift recovery.
Donna70

Tina Blondek

Welcome
Hello and welcome to our loving, caring, EC family. I was a caregiver for my dad. His EC was exactly like yours in 11/08. His drs. opted for 6 weeks of oral chemo, xeloda and radiation. He did quite well. After treatment he had a pet scan. It showed a tremendous shrinkage of the tumor. We celebrated his year of remission in 11/09. Now the hard part. In Dec/09 he started having severe pain on his right side. He had become jaundice. Went to primary dr. He sent him for an ultrasound of the gallbladder. Thinking it was gallstones. No...result was lesions on the liver. Rushed him to UVA hospital. He spent a week there. He had to have a stent put into esophagus, since it had closed up alot from scar tissue. He also had to have a stent put in his bile duct of his liver. Lots of pain and suffering. Brought him home the day before Christmas Eve 12/23/09 Greatful to have him home for the holidays. Praise the Lord. Knowing that the EC had now spread to his liver, he took a break from chemo until Feb/09. Dr. advised again that since he had such great success with the oral chemo xeloda for the EC...lets try it again for the liver. Ok...we agreed. Not such a great success this time. He suffered and was in pain for 2.5 mos. He had every reaction to the chemo and pain meds you could think of. His quality of life was not existant. He prayed daily for the good Lord to take him home. On March 9, 2010, his prayers were answered. He peacefully went home to Heaven. My dad was not a candidate for surgery. He had had a 5 bypass heart surgery previously. He was too weak to withstand it. You, on the other hand are able to have the surgery. Praise the Lord! You are on the right track. Your drs. have the right plan. Surgery is the way to go. Keep a positive outlook, pray daily, keep us up to date often. Hugs to you.
Tina in Va