canidate for surgery?

jameboz
jameboz Member Posts: 2
edited March 2014 in Lung Cancer #1
My dad was diagnosed with stage IIIB lung cancer in February. He has started chemo 1 day a week, and radiation 5 days a week. He is only 49, and his overall health is good. The bigger problem is that his oncologist, radiologist, and chemotherapist have given him conflicting information. He originally heard that the radiation would shrink his tumor (hopefully) and then may be operable... today they told him that his tumor shrunk by 50%! He then saw the radiologist and asked him about surgery and they told him he never was a canidate because it spread to the lymphnodes. His oncoligist had originally told him that the main goal was to shrink the tumor so to remove it? Does anyone know if chemotherapy can remove cancer from the lymphnodes making surgery an option?

Comments

  • michaelcie
    michaelcie Member Posts: 133
    #2
    hi , I have small cell lung cancer, I am also inoperable because of location and the involvement of lymph nodes. I still don't totally understand why but they tell me because of the medistinal cavity , the location and the other things involved. I received 4 chemo's , cisplatnum, carboplatnum, vp-16 ,and taxol and six and a half weeks of radiation to chest, side and back five days a week. the radiation did nothing for my tumor, which measured approximately 5 inches x 4 inches x 3 inches. It was into lymph nodes , into lung , wrapped around aorta artery and pushing against my esophogus. It has shrunk from the chemo only and am in remission for two years now. I don't know if Ihave helped , hope I did some, God bless Mike
  • nodawgs
    nodawgs Member Posts: 116
    #3
    I don't get it, either. Back in July 2002, I was diagnosed with Stage IV, non-small cell lung with metastases to the brain. A neurosurgeon removed the met via resection. A cardiothoracic surgeon removed the entire, upper left lobe and while there, he discovered 2 nearby cancersou lymph nodes in a cluster of 6 and decided to remove all 6. Initially, I had CT scans and MRIs every 4 weeks to monitor for any reoccurence. It's now down to every 12 weeks. As of Feb 2004, MRIs and scans show I'm still clear. I had no follow-up chemo, radiation...nothing. My care is by M.D. Anderson-Houston and I'd like to hear from other non-small cell lung cancer patients whereby intervention was by surgery only and are still clear.

    Perry

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