Radiation only statistical data

David_01
David_01 Member Posts: 13
in Uterine/Endometrial Cancer #1

 

I first would like to thank everyone for all of their posts to this website, as they have helped me greatly understand things that men will never experience.

 

 

 

My wife has recently suffered many significant medical issues and just as we thought we were seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, we were hit with the sledgehammer that is named Uterine Cancer.

 

 

 

Our first visit to the Gynecological Oncologist reviewed my wife’s initial D & C test results that showed she had grade 3 cells, possibly Serous cells. My wife has recently had a PET scan and further biopsy and fortunately they believe she is only stage 1, grade 3.

 

 

 

Due to my wife’s previous serious medical issues the doctor is wanting her to be stronger before she would approve surgery to perform a hysterectomy. The Doctor wants us to consider radiation treatment only, which I am very concerned about. We had an appointment last Tuesday to talk to the radiation Oncologist, where I quizzed him on statistics for this form of treatment. His answer was not encouraging as he did not know of any official data. After reading as much information as I could and following a lot of the links provided on other posts, the standard treatment appears to be surgery. So my main question is does anyone know of any statistical data on survivability for radiation only treatment of stage 1 grade 3 Endometrioid Carcinoma?

 

 

 

I used a surgical risk assessment tool at the American college of surgery (link: https://riskcalculator.facs.org/RiskCalculator/index.jsp ) which you can put in medical history to assess surgical risks. I know I am a beginner at this, but I do not want to push for surgery from ignorance.

 

 

 

Thank you in advance for your assistance

 

David

 

Comments

  • Forherself
    Forherself Member Posts: 1,013 Member
    #2
    Welcome David

    So sorry to hear all that you and your wife are dealing with.  I will add some information and hopefully others will come a long.  

    Uterine cancer cannot be  accurately staged by anything other than surgical staging.  They take samples of many different tissues.   Grade 3 cells can spread.  You don't mention what health issues your wife has that prevent surgery.  Can she have surgery with spinal anesthesia instead of general anesthesia?  I guess it depends on the reasons she can't have surgery.  If she has a life expectancy of 5 years I would not be content with radiation only.  I wonder are they proposing whole abdominal radiation?  

  • NoTimeForCancer
    NoTimeForCancer Member Posts: 3,486 Member
    edited March 2020 #3
    David, since everyone is

    David, since everyone is different, considering your wife's other health issues is important - probably a huge factor of consideration for anything right now. Know that while you say you are a novice at all this - it is a big unknown for all of us.  

    If the gyn onc is thinking to start with radiation, is the goal to still get her stronger so she could have surgery?  Those are the questions you might want to ask.  If is was his/her wife/sister, etc...what would they recommend.  

    It does sound like you have a lot going on, so please don't be a stranger and let us know how she is doing.

  • David_01
    David_01 Member Posts: 13
    edited March 2020 #4
    Forherself said:

    Welcome David

    So sorry to hear all that you and your wife are dealing with.  I will add some information and hopefully others will come a long.  

    Uterine cancer cannot be  accurately staged by anything other than surgical staging.  They take samples of many different tissues.   Grade 3 cells can spread.  You don't mention what health issues your wife has that prevent surgery.  Can she have surgery with spinal anesthesia instead of general anesthesia?  I guess it depends on the reasons she can't have surgery.  If she has a life expectancy of 5 years I would not be content with radiation only.  I wonder are they proposing whole abdominal radiation?  

    My wife has asthma and had a

    My wife has asthma and had a collapse lung, which caused her to stop breathing. This cause her heart to stop, so the ambulance/hospital performed CPR for 10 minutes to get her back. During this she had a severe stroke. This all happened just before thanksgiving. Since then her recovery has been tremendous. She is undergoing therapy for speach, physical and occupational and I am expecting a full recovery as she is doing so well. 

    Treatment is proposed to be 25 external and 3 to 4 internal.

    The gyn oncologist was concerned that inclining my wife for Lapascopic surgery will put pressure on my wife's lungs and heart as she is overweight and the added pressure they use to inflate the stomach. Although our Pulminologist was not concerned, the Oncologist is the surgeon.

    I think the main issue is that after my wife came out of hospital the first time, she was only out for a couple of days and then had an infection that put her back in hospital for 9 days. A couple of days later she had her first appointment with the oncologist. I thing as she was still so weak the doctor is judging the surgery risk based on this.

    We go back on Friday and she is now a lot stronger, so hopefully she will be now ok to perform the surgery.

  • David_01
    David_01 Member Posts: 13
    edited March 2020 #5
    NoTimeForCancer said:

    David, since everyone is

    David, since everyone is different, considering your wife's other health issues is important - probably a huge factor of consideration for anything right now. Know that while you say you are a novice at all this - it is a big unknown for all of us.  

    If the gyn onc is thinking to start with radiation, is the goal to still get her stronger so she could have surgery?  Those are the questions you might want to ask.  If is was his/her wife/sister, etc...what would they recommend.  

    It does sound like you have a lot going on, so please don't be a stranger and let us know how she is doing.

    The Gyn Oncologist was hoping

    The Gyn Oncologist was hoping that the only treatment will be radiation -- no surgery. See post above for more detail.

  • Forherself
    Forherself Member Posts: 1,013 Member
    edited March 2020 #6
    Well I see

    why the surgeon does not want to operate. Your wife has enough to deal with.  I'm glad to hear she is recovering so well.   Gyne oncologists do stage clinically sometimes.  That is what your wife has had.  I am including a link to a chart that shows treatment based on clinical staging.   Surgial staging is more common,  your wife has had a PET scan which is very good at finding cancer cells.  And I believe you said it was clear.  And stage 1 does have some support for radiation only.  It is low stage so that is a plus too.  

    https://www.mdanderson.org/content/dam/mdanderson/documents/for-physicians/algorithms/cancer-treatment/ca-treatment-endometrial-web-algorithm.pdf

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