CANCER STAGING

FOMC

Hey all. Will try and be as brief as possible.  Saw someone's post the other day and they stated that there previous Stage 4 was now classified as a Stage 1 under the "new" staging system!!  What is this "new" staging system because according to my Oncologist and Radonc, the Stage 4 I was diagnosed with back in Jan 2018 is the same Stage 4 I have today!!  Comments appreciated

Jerry

ERomanO

When I was first diagnosed in

When I was first diagnosed in March 2018 I was told by my RO that I was considered stage 1, but had I been diagnosed prior to Jan 2018 I would have been considered stage 4.  The reason he cited for the new staging was the success they've had over the years.

Fritz

You are partially correct

The new staging of Head and Neck cancer relates to HPV+ cancer only.  It is because this cancer does respond better to the treatment protocols that these cancers have been given a different staging level.  Non-HPV+ is still staged under the old system.

Hope this helps.

Freddie

ERomanO

Yes, and since my cancer was

Yes, and since my cancer was HPV+ that was sort of implied, but I should have specified that. It seems like most members on here (at least since I've been on) are HPV+.

ricksmithgolfer

New staging

Both ERomanO and Fritz are correct. The new staging is the AJCC 8th edition which was effective January 01, 2018. AJCC stands for American Joint Commitee of Cancer, which is the organization responsible for all cancer staging. In June, 2018 my radiation oncolgist new about the new staging for HPV+  but my chemo doctor did not. Unfortuanately, even though I was now stage 1 versus the old stage 4a the treatment options remained the same. With more research they are hoping they can scale back the treatments in the future so the side effects are less. Check out their website and you can review the new staging changes for HPV positive cancers.

Fritz

Unfortunately, treatments are just as harsh

Yes, and I was HPV+ as well; however, even though the staging is more promising, the treatments are the same which means we all still suffer the crappy side-effects left over from surgery, radiation and for those of us who had chemo as well.  Just because the new staging is less does not free us from that.

Freddie

ERomanO

During my treatments I would

During my treatments I would meet with my RO every Thu so he could check me out and see how I'm doing overall.  Before every rad they did a neck CT Scan and at our meeting on the Thu of the 5th week he showed me a comparison of the very first scan and the one they did that morning.  I was all lit up in green in the first scan and absolutely nothing was visible from that morning's scan. Of course I said something like "So how about we just stop here?" and his answer was what you would expect - no.  He did tell me at the onset that they probably radiate more than is needed, but that they don't want to take any chances of not eradicating the cancer completely, or as best they can.

johnsonbl

Echo what others have said...

The new staging applies only to HPV+ disease where stage 4 is reserved only for those whose disease has already spread to distant parts of the body.

 

There was just a study published the other day where the outcomes from 30gy of radiation were equivalent to 60gy at something like 37 months...  So there is significant progress being made in understanding how to de-escalate treatments for HPV related disease and still maintain the excellent outcomes with much fewer side effects!

Logan51

Thank you

Due to this thread I got it in gear to look up the difference between cGy and gy and do the conversion. Got my Rad Dr. report and cGys are what is listed. I was non-HPV Nasopharyngeal w/unknown Primary and received 68gys spread over 20 places in 2009.

FOMC

Thank You

Thanks to all for the clarification. Was hoping it was something I had missed but nevertheless I'm happy for those HPV+ folks that recv a lower staging.

Jerry