Lung to Brain Cancer

LuvmySis
LuvmySis Member Posts: 1
edited March 2014 in Lung Cancer #1
My sister who is 56 was diagnosed with lung cancer in June 05, with some also in the liver and lymph nodes. She went thru rounds of chemo and they did a PET Scan yesterday and said it was gone except for a small spot on the liver. She has been nauseated for a week, so they hospitalized her to run tests on her stomach before continuing with the chemo. This morning they did an MRI and found cancer in the brain. Does anyone have info on this?

Comments

  • tenten
    tenten Member Posts: 18
    #2
    My dad has lung cancer w/ 3 sm. mets to the brain...he just finished 4wks of whole brain radiation and will proabably have radiosurgery (gamma knife) in early Dec. for the largest spot. We have found, with mets, unless there is only one, drs. generally will not surgically remove them... but, opt for rad. and chemo instead. Except for the hair loss and a little fliud in his ears (temporary), he is doing very well (driving, light exercise walking). He just started radiation to his lung this week. I'll keep you all in my prayers. Take care.
  • gdpawel
    gdpawel Member Posts: 523 Member
    #3
    M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, noted in their OncoLog, that whole brain radiation may still be the standard for "four or more" brain tumors, however, there are a variety of effective treatment modalities for people who have fewer than four tumors, and in particular for a solitary brain metastasis (Stereotatic, Gamma-Knife, Cyber-Knife, Brachyradiation and IMRT to name a few).

    http://www2.mdanderson.org/depts/oncolog/articles/05/1-jan/1-05-1.html

    The UCLA Metastatic Brain Tumor Program's goal is to treat metastatic disease "focally" so as to spare normal brain tissue and function. Focal treatment allows retreatment of local and new recurrences. This treatment delivers a single, large dose of radiation that is precisely targeted to the tumor and causes minimal damage to surrounding brain structures.

    http://neurosurgery.ucla.edu/Programs/BrainTumor/Metastatic_Intro.html

    The results of a recent study at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine reported that treating four or more brain tumors in a single radiosurgery session resulted in improved survival compared to whole brain radiation therapy alone. In the study, patients with primary malignancies that had metastasized to the brain underwent Gamma-Knife radiosurgery and the results indicated that treating four or more brain tumors with radiosurgery is safe and effective and translates into a survival benefit for patients.

    http://www.upmc.edu/

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