Dr. Habr-Gama protocol?

mozart13
mozart13 Member Posts: 118
in Colorectal Cancer #1

Any one here has experience with watch and wait protocol?

Thx!

Comments

  • gringo51
    gringo51 Member Posts: 2
    #2
    Watch and wait...

    My husband was diagnosed with stage 3c rectal cancer in june 2015 at the age of 50.  He had regional lymph spread.  After successful Folfox chemo and radiation we were ready for surgery only to find there was no sign of tumor and a biopsy showed no sign of cancer.  We decided to take this watch and wait approach as the odds of distant recurrence were higher than local for him.  Happy to say we are 11 mths from his last radiation treatment and still NED!  The Cancer Center we go to has over 20 patients taking this route... and according to our oncologist... they are all 'behaving'.

  • mozart13
    mozart13 Member Posts: 118
    edited December 2016 #3
    gringo51 said:

    Watch and wait...

    My husband was diagnosed with stage 3c rectal cancer in june 2015 at the age of 50.  He had regional lymph spread.  After successful Folfox chemo and radiation we were ready for surgery only to find there was no sign of tumor and a biopsy showed no sign of cancer.  We decided to take this watch and wait approach as the odds of distant recurrence were higher than local for him.  Happy to say we are 11 mths from his last radiation treatment and still NED!  The Cancer Center we go to has over 20 patients taking this route... and according to our oncologist... they are all 'behaving'.

    that's great news!
    thx

    that's great news!

    thx

  • mozart13
    mozart13 Member Posts: 118
    #4
    Hope

    I am hopeing for the same outcome.

    T1,T2 stage, hasnt spread, one lymph node affected, cea 2, will start radiation therapy 25 rounds, 50 gy,

    and xeloda 1750 twice/day while on radiation.

    I thing that they are treating it as higher stage than it is.

    My understaning is that radiation is suppose  to wipe it out, while chemo acts as boost to radiation, as well

    as killer of free floating cancer cells in the blood.

    Have read good stories about this approach when it works, have my fingers crossed.

    There is a lots of statistics , positive, will ask my oncologist about her opinion as well as surgeon.

    It is standard treatment, found some stories from California that they use that as inital treatment, than follow up with  chemo treatment, one mediacal center in NY starts with chemo first than follow up with chemo and radiation together.

     

  • mozart13
    mozart13 Member Posts: 118
    edited December 2016 #5
    W and W aproach

    Went this am to see my radiation specialist, he had couple of other guys with him, asked them about watch and wait aproach, 20-30% of people have CCR,

    out of those with complete response, when surgery done, 30-50% come back as positive.

    It looks to me that risk is too high to go that road, might be a bit diccy.

    So I am gonna take my chance here, and might be the only chance that I am going to have, to kill it completlly, and go for surgery, after chemo/radiation, than chemo after operation.

    Will keep board up to date.

     

  • gringo51
    gringo51 Member Posts: 2
    edited December 2016 #6
    watch and wait..

    The odds definitely arent for everyone.  I am not sure we would have made this choice if my husband wasnt so advanced from the start.  We decided that we would ride out no surgery, knowing he can have salvage surgery if needed, and concern ourselves on distant recurrence... which of course we hope never occurs!!!  Best of Luck to you! 

  • Ret
    Ret Member Posts: 1
    #7
    gringo51 said:

    watch and wait..

    The odds definitely arent for everyone.  I am not sure we would have made this choice if my husband wasnt so advanced from the start.  We decided that we would ride out no surgery, knowing he can have salvage surgery if needed, and concern ourselves on distant recurrence... which of course we hope never occurs!!!  Best of Luck to you! 

    W and W

    anyone heard of following the Habr-Gama watch/wait approach with stage 4 ?  Husband is now successfully post-op liver recection (no other metastatic sites); with complete primary tumor destruction after chemo/radiation.   Surgeon has said that avoiding surgery is an option, but the tumor board is pushing for surgery and associated ostomy.   Thx!

  • mozart13
    mozart13 Member Posts: 118
    edited February 2017 #8

    I am going through simillar situation now, my rectal cancer is destroyed, surgeon that orginized every thing send me to another surgeon that is specialized in in transanal laparoscopic approach, that is all that he does.

    This surgeon question when I met him was "What if there is no cancer cells left?", he is planing temporary stoma to     let it heal, than reversal. Gonna have another scope in march.

    He is taking it to his board as well.

    Please let us know what dessiccion is, and good luck!

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