Chemotherapy to shrink tumor

Femi
Femi Member Posts: 3
edited March 2014 in Sarcoma #1
I am posting for an anti-sarcoma struggler who will get chemotherapy (Ifosfamid + Adriamycin) against his recidivistic tumors: one in thigh (~ 30 mm) and one in abdomen (~ 90 mm) between stomach and pancreas. Originally (2004) he was diagnosed with malignant fibrous histiocytoma, grade 3.
3 cycles are planned in 10 weeks or alternatively 1 cycle and then surgery of the tumor in the abdomen and then (perhaps) 2 further cycles. Due to the ongoing strike here in Germany surgery is not possible right away and chemotherapy was recommended to bridge the time and shrink the tumor. The doctors say, the resection of the tumor in the abdomen has priority.
Did anybody have success with chemotherapy prior to surgery? Thank you all!

Comments

  • AuthorUnknown
    AuthorUnknown Member Posts: 1,537 Member
    #2
    Hello,

    You may want to contact the American Cancer Society's National Cancer Information Center. Cancer Information Specialists are available to assist you with your questions. They can be reached by clicking on the "Contact ACS" link at the top of this page.

    Take care and be well,

    Dana
    CSN Dana
  • vito
    vito Member Posts: 1
    #3
    I had no sucess with chemo to shrink my tumor (MFH).
  • jcthomas
    jcthomas Member Posts: 15
    #4
    Sorry for the late reply but this may help others in the future. In 1995 I had a sarcoma in my right hamstring leg muscle and they did high-dose chemo with a stem cell transplant at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore. This was pre-surgery and it did kill part of the tumor prior to surgery. Shrinking and/or killing part of the tumor is important depending on what type of surgery they are performing - they removed my entire muscle with the tumor inside the muscle but could not properly determine the grade of tumor or if it had spread so the pre-surgery chemo seemed logical to me. Johns Hopkins hospital (where I got my first opinion) had a totally different approach - removal of the tumor and part of the muscle/tissue surrounding it but this seemed more risky. Lost the muscle but also lost the entire tumor. Email me if you want the doctor's name because he was practicing at a different hospital but orthoepedic oncology and sarcomas are his specialty.
  • theatricaleyes
    theatricaleyes Member Posts: 3
    #5
    Hi! I have leiomyosarcoma which is cancer of the soft muscle tissue. I have had several cycles of Ifosfamid and Adriamycin. My tumors have continued to shrink with each and every treatment. Chemo does work for some people. Of course the side effects are terrible, but it is certainly better than cancer taking over the body!
  • cocodixon
    cocodixon Member Posts: 1
    #6
    jcthomas said:

    Sorry for the late reply but this may help others in the future. In 1995 I had a sarcoma in my right hamstring leg muscle and they did high-dose chemo with a stem cell transplant at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore. This was pre-surgery and it did kill part of the tumor prior to surgery. Shrinking and/or killing part of the tumor is important depending on what type of surgery they are performing - they removed my entire muscle with the tumor inside the muscle but could not properly determine the grade of tumor or if it had spread so the pre-surgery chemo seemed logical to me. Johns Hopkins hospital (where I got my first opinion) had a totally different approach - removal of the tumor and part of the muscle/tissue surrounding it but this seemed more risky. Lost the muscle but also lost the entire tumor. Email me if you want the doctor's name because he was practicing at a different hospital but orthoepedic oncology and sarcomas are his specialty.

    stem cell
    I am responding to this post ten years later, however may I have the name of the doctor please?
  • ZiegenSauger
    ZiegenSauger Member Posts: 4
    #7
    theatricaleyes said:

    Hi! I have leiomyosarcoma which is cancer of the soft muscle tissue. I have had several cycles of Ifosfamid and Adriamycin. My tumors have continued to shrink with each and every treatment. Chemo does work for some people. Of course the side effects are terrible, but it is certainly better than cancer taking over the body!

    Chemotherapy is one of the important pieces of treatment
    All -

    I had a large Sarcoma in my left thigh with several sessions of chemotherapy.
    There are for sure several uncertainities and assumptions the Oncologist needs to make when starting the treatment to follow strategies A, B, or C.

    In my case after 2 sessions before surgery the chemo killed the tumour cells almost completely and the few cells left alive were like dying zombie cells. Surgery was a success with negative margins and then more sessions of chemotherapy to reduce to almost null the chances to have it back in my body.

    Each individual case have its particularities but chemotherapy is fore sure one of the important weapons. More than anything all cases are curable with the treatments we have available today in the world. All cases are curable.

    Paul from Florida

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