Lung cancer / squamous cell

laurabeau
laurabeau Member Posts: 40
in Lung Cancer #1

Has anyone had cancer from head and neck invade the lungs? Please share your treatment regiment.  Husband has been fighting head and neck four 4  years wit 4 surgeries, intense radiation and heavy chemo. Cancer pops up year after year and now in  lung.

Surgeru Thurs to remove four areas in left lung. 

laurab

Comments

  • dennycee
    dennycee Member Posts: 857 Member
    #2
    Welcome!

    look for threads started by ToBeGolden.  He is in that position as well.  Do you have any specific questions you need answered?   

  • kandi C
    kandi C Member Posts: 2
    #3
    My Father Kent has squamous Carcinoma

    It started as a little bump on the side of his neck.  He had it for years.  They said it was nothing to worry about.  Last year 2012 - it suddenly began to grow so they suggested surgery to remove it.  They knew it was cancer when they opened it.  It might have been little on the outside of the skin but the tumor was large on the inside.  It was about eight inches long and grew downward towards his waist from his neck.  He had thirty three radiation treatments that ended in March of this year 2013.  We thought they had got it all.  A routine scan showed shadows on the lower right lobe of his lung on July 1st.  They did a needle biopsy and confirmed it is the same cancer.  Sometimes they call it basolsquamous - other times just squamous carcinoma.  We were told that it is not treatable and he had about three months to live in July 2013.  

    I say its not over until the fat lady sings and if you think you hear music buy better ear plugs!!!!

    I started researching treatments and checking into alternatives.  His oncologist at the time said he wanted to see him again in roughly six weeks for pain control.  His three months is up.  Guess what?  He is still here.

    I found that chemo is a one type fits all kind of therapy.  Seventy percent do not respond to it.  That leaves thirty percent that do.  I want to increase the odds for my Dad.  I found all kinds of alternatives.  I checked into genetically targeted fractional chemo, insulin based potentiated therapy, Ex Vivo assay - you name it.  Everyone is different.  Their cancer is too.  What we chose for my Dad is Ex Vivo analysis of his tumor.  Do you know what that is?  They take a piece of his tumor and subject it to chemo drugs in the lab until they find one that kills it.  Programmed cell death.  They create a report and tell you what meds your tumor is sensitive to.  You have the option of ordering chemo based on those findings.  So does it work?  I dont know yet.  They took a sample of my Dads tumor from his right lung last week.  They completed the assay and told us Cisplatin and nitrogen mustard worked on his tumor.  he will have his stitches out from his lung surgery today.  We will schedule his chemo tomorrow.  I will let you know what happens as we live it.  I have great hopes that his chemo will be successful.  

    My Dad is seventy one (just turned 71 on July 28th).  He is a wonderful man, full of life.  My parents have been married for over fifty two years.  It seems to me that squamous carcinoma might keep popping up in multiple places - (based on what I have read).  For that reason I think its important to have an assay done and find out what his cancer is sensitive to.  If you start early - and use the right chemo - the odds of surviving  are a lot better.  

     

  • dennycee
    dennycee Member Posts: 857 Member
    #4
    kandi C said:

    My Father Kent has squamous Carcinoma

    It started as a little bump on the side of his neck.  He had it for years.  They said it was nothing to worry about.  Last year 2012 - it suddenly began to grow so they suggested surgery to remove it.  They knew it was cancer when they opened it.  It might have been little on the outside of the skin but the tumor was large on the inside.  It was about eight inches long and grew downward towards his waist from his neck.  He had thirty three radiation treatments that ended in March of this year 2013.  We thought they had got it all.  A routine scan showed shadows on the lower right lobe of his lung on July 1st.  They did a needle biopsy and confirmed it is the same cancer.  Sometimes they call it basolsquamous - other times just squamous carcinoma.  We were told that it is not treatable and he had about three months to live in July 2013.  

    I say its not over until the fat lady sings and if you think you hear music buy better ear plugs!!!!

    I started researching treatments and checking into alternatives.  His oncologist at the time said he wanted to see him again in roughly six weeks for pain control.  His three months is up.  Guess what?  He is still here.

    I found that chemo is a one type fits all kind of therapy.  Seventy percent do not respond to it.  That leaves thirty percent that do.  I want to increase the odds for my Dad.  I found all kinds of alternatives.  I checked into genetically targeted fractional chemo, insulin based potentiated therapy, Ex Vivo assay - you name it.  Everyone is different.  Their cancer is too.  What we chose for my Dad is Ex Vivo analysis of his tumor.  Do you know what that is?  They take a piece of his tumor and subject it to chemo drugs in the lab until they find one that kills it.  Programmed cell death.  They create a report and tell you what meds your tumor is sensitive to.  You have the option of ordering chemo based on those findings.  So does it work?  I dont know yet.  They took a sample of my Dads tumor from his right lung last week.  They completed the assay and told us Cisplatin and nitrogen mustard worked on his tumor.  he will have his stitches out from his lung surgery today.  We will schedule his chemo tomorrow.  I will let you know what happens as we live it.  I have great hopes that his chemo will be successful.  

    My Dad is seventy one (just turned 71 on July 28th).  He is a wonderful man, full of life.  My parents have been married for over fifty two years.  It seems to me that squamous carcinoma might keep popping up in multiple places - (based on what I have read).  For that reason I think its important to have an assay done and find out what his cancer is sensitive to.  If you start early - and use the right chemo - the odds of surviving  are a lot better.  

     

    Thank you, kandi

    Excellent advice.  

  • laurabeau
    laurabeau Member Posts: 40
    #5
    dennycee said:

    Welcome!

    look for threads started by ToBeGolden.  He is in that position as well.  Do you have any specific questions you need answered?   

    Lung surgery

    Just got back home from husband's 5th surgery. This time they took out tumor on left lobe of left lung. The had planned to take out 3 other smaller ones but when they got in they were located on pleural lining. Fear of bleeding kept them from taking the mare ones out.  The first cancer appeared as swollen hands on left side, a week of antibiotics , then trip to ENT. Surgery determined squamous cell. We then got second opinion and more surgeery and clean marginsar followed by Chemo and 33 weeks of Radiation. A ate roarer  a bump popped up on scar areas, cleared the area, more radiation and chemo. Another year and hot spot showed up on tonsil. More surgery but couldn't lean lean margins. So we were sent to MD Anderson. They feel the origin was from the tonsil all along. Eight hr of chemo and take home pack of drugs cysplatin being one of them. Then a round of erbuitux and back out to MD for 7 more week of radiation to the throat area.This ended end of January. May pet scan was clean.  August head and neck clean and overlap on Ct showed area on lung. He had surgery a week go thurs. They removed larger tumor but for fear of bleeding weren't able to remove. So in a few weeks more chemo. All of this cancer has been on the left side. Hoping they find somethething to stop the spread. Since they didn't get the origin until the 4th surgery I feel these cels were escaping to other areas undetected because they were microscopic. 

  • laurabeau
    laurabeau Member Posts: 40
    #6
    dennycee said:

    Thank you, kandi

    Excellent advice.  

    Lung Cancer treatment

    It has been a while since i have listed. My husband' s lab report on type of cancer (thought to be squamous cell ) turned out to be K-Ras. He finished his 8th chemo a week couple of weeks ago. He had his first CT Scan since he started treatment. Scan showed significant decrease of cancer by 66 percent. First good news we have had in a while! The chemo he is taking is every three weeks and the drugs are Alimta, Paraplatin, and Avastin. The down side of this is that when you stop chemo this cancer tends to come back unless you have a ongoing period of remission. We will take what we can get and be eternally grateful !

     

  • FRONT AND CENTER
    FRONT AND CENTER Member Posts: 29
    #7
    kandi C said:

    My Father Kent has squamous Carcinoma

    It started as a little bump on the side of his neck.  He had it for years.  They said it was nothing to worry about.  Last year 2012 - it suddenly began to grow so they suggested surgery to remove it.  They knew it was cancer when they opened it.  It might have been little on the outside of the skin but the tumor was large on the inside.  It was about eight inches long and grew downward towards his waist from his neck.  He had thirty three radiation treatments that ended in March of this year 2013.  We thought they had got it all.  A routine scan showed shadows on the lower right lobe of his lung on July 1st.  They did a needle biopsy and confirmed it is the same cancer.  Sometimes they call it basolsquamous - other times just squamous carcinoma.  We were told that it is not treatable and he had about three months to live in July 2013.  

    I say its not over until the fat lady sings and if you think you hear music buy better ear plugs!!!!

    I started researching treatments and checking into alternatives.  His oncologist at the time said he wanted to see him again in roughly six weeks for pain control.  His three months is up.  Guess what?  He is still here.

    I found that chemo is a one type fits all kind of therapy.  Seventy percent do not respond to it.  That leaves thirty percent that do.  I want to increase the odds for my Dad.  I found all kinds of alternatives.  I checked into genetically targeted fractional chemo, insulin based potentiated therapy, Ex Vivo assay - you name it.  Everyone is different.  Their cancer is too.  What we chose for my Dad is Ex Vivo analysis of his tumor.  Do you know what that is?  They take a piece of his tumor and subject it to chemo drugs in the lab until they find one that kills it.  Programmed cell death.  They create a report and tell you what meds your tumor is sensitive to.  You have the option of ordering chemo based on those findings.  So does it work?  I dont know yet.  They took a sample of my Dads tumor from his right lung last week.  They completed the assay and told us Cisplatin and nitrogen mustard worked on his tumor.  he will have his stitches out from his lung surgery today.  We will schedule his chemo tomorrow.  I will let you know what happens as we live it.  I have great hopes that his chemo will be successful.  

    My Dad is seventy one (just turned 71 on July 28th).  He is a wonderful man, full of life.  My parents have been married for over fifty two years.  It seems to me that squamous carcinoma might keep popping up in multiple places - (based on what I have read).  For that reason I think its important to have an assay done and find out what his cancer is sensitive to.  If you start early - and use the right chemo - the odds of surviving  are a lot better.  

     

    How is your DAD?

    I am praying for him and that the Cisplatin helped. 

    I was diagnosed with SCC of tongue, spread to lymphs in neck, underwent chemo and radiation and am now looking to the future.

    Your father had similar diagnosis.  Praying he is ok.

    xo

    Kelly

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