Differences in type of Uterine cancers

Kvdyson

alwayslookup said:

MMMT Treat

I am new to this site.  I was diagnosed with MMMT 1B and had a total hysterectomy in October 2011.  Had Carbo/Taxol for 6 rounds, split by radiation for 25 days then hi-dose radiation to top of vagina, completing in June of 2012.  18 months remission with recurrence in Jan of 2014.  8 rounds of carbo/taxol, resulting in NED. Completed in October 2014.  Some were extended due to low platelet counts.  Tumor was again measurable by January 2015, when I went on a clinical trial.  Finished that in August 2015 due to bad side effects and waning effectiveness.  Started another clinical trial in September 2015 involving taxol and another drug which I am still on, but may not be for much longer as it seems to be losing its effectiveness.  It will be 5 years in 2 months, and although it had started to spread to 3 lymph nodes, they are now clear and my tumor is contained.

First and foremost, I have found that attitude plays a HUGE role in handling all this.  I realize that there may not be a miracle cure, but eating well, exercising, and smiling a lot works wonders.  I also look at this as an adventure.  As one path closes, I look toward the next, hoping for the best.  I have worked with absolutely wonderful doctors and nurses, totally dedicated to curing cancer and treating their patients.

After all that, my question is:  aside from carbo/taxol (or anything with taxol as I may now be resistant to it), what treatments have MMMT patients found to be the most helpful and what are the side effects?  I have had few side effects other than on the one clinical trial, and - thank goodness - no nausea.  Just trying to do some research and thinking early.

Thanks.  And I think this site is great!  Wish I had found it before!

MMMT Treatments

Alwayslookup, I was diagnosed with stage 1b, grade 3, uterine MMMT in September 2015. Surgery was TAH & BSO, 14 lymph nodes excised, 10.5 cm tumor removed. My treatment was 6 rounds of chemo ( Ifex/Mesna/Taxol) with 28 external radiation treatments "sandwiched" between the 3rd and 4th rounds of chemo. I finished treatment at the end of May 2016 and have been NED since June 2016. Side effects of treatment were minimal and easily managed. My gyn-onc had sent a piece of the tumor out for testing with various chemo meds and the Ifex/Taxol combo was most effective in the petri dish so that is why he went that route with me. The test is called ChemoFx by a company called Helomics. Hope this information helps you. Kim

BC Brady

NoTimeForCancer said:

namedropper, we do have some

namedropper, we do have some women here who have MMMT.  Some post regularly, some check in, and some do not comehere much anymore.  Percentage-wise it is a small group in respect to all of uterine cancers, but because this is specifically a cancer chat board they do come here.  You can start a thread for that if you would like.  I know it helps to know you are not alone in your fight, and why I have always like the inclusive roll call.  UPSC, MMMT, a few others, are rare and I like to think we need to look to how they are treating ovarian cancer to make progress on our since it has similar traits. 

After 20 months I'm still asking this!

Thank you all for covering this. My initial dx was stage 4 adenocarcinoma metastatic. I was told that it is the middle of three types, and rare, at only 10% of uterine cancers. At some point UPSC has been on my info sheets - so I'm really not sure if what I have is the same as what I started with or has turned into UPSC? Apparently I am not an actual medical person and just play one with my friends who think I know everything!

Billie

SandyD

namedropper said:

Difference

When they do a roll call on the board I don't know where to go.  The Dr. said I have carcinosarcoma which is also called MMMT i think.  From what I know it is a mix of 2 kinds.  Some of the women have UPSC and others have other kinds. I think I have serous adencarcinoma.    I will will check with my Dr.    thanks    all of you are so kind. 

Yep, two kinds

For me, I had both carcinosarcoma (MMMT) and papillary serous (UPSC).

Quiltergal

Do you hav any pains with stage one

SpringerSpanielMom

Quiltergal, you get the treatments (like surgery) recommended by your oncologists to avoid cancer pain. For your surgery you'll be under general, so you really will not feel pain. Afterward in the hospital, tell your nurses if you have pain; they will help you. Talk to your onc about concerns about pain after surgery; he or she may prescribe something. I really had very little pain afterward; just be careful to follow instructions about resting, not lifting or bending, whatever they tell you. I'm not sure if you'll even need chemo or radiation, but for many of us radiation was not painful beyond some small short pain for the brachytherapy insertion. Chemo can cause pain, but heating pads and opiates really help. The most important thing is speak up if you have pain or even concerns about pain.

MAbound

I think I would answer that question with the question...Are you having pains?

Anxiety tends to ratchet up dramatically when you get a cancer diagnosis and it's not inconceivable that twitches and pangs you might normally dismiss are alarming you or could need attention for an entirely different reason. In any case, if you are having pain or anxiety is eating at you and making it difficult for you to function or sleep normally, these are things that you should make your doctors aware of. You don't have to suffer this part of the process without help or relief and you wouldn't be the only one to have had these issues. The period between awareness of symptoms, getting a diagnosis, and getting treatment can be very difficult to get through and it's ok to keep your doctors in the loop about what you are experiencing. Keeping the doctors and nurses well-informed throughout your cancer journey is key to getting through it all because they have many tricks in their bags for making it doable.

SpringerSpanielMom

https://csn.cancer.org/discussion/comment/1553320#Comment_1553320

I have uterine GCS, formerly known as MMMT. All GCS cancers have two parts: carcinoma and sarcoma. My carcinoma component is mixed endometrioid and papillary serous. My sarcoma component is homologous. I mostly check out the uterine cancer threads, but once in a while I look at ovarian discussions for more papillary serous threads, as I have that in my carcinoma histology.