Chemo/No Chemo ??? Any Comments/Suggestions Welcomed

I'm not a doctor, and I hestitate to contradict what she's being told by her oncologist, BUT-- since you're asking for OPINIONS, here's mine.

My mother was diagnosed with adenocarcinoma with malignant pleural effusion in 12/05 (also in her right lung). The malignant pleural effusion makes her inoperable, because once the cancer has spread to the lining of the lung/chest wall, a surgeon can't get a "clear margin" (clear = cancer free).

Pleural effusion often occurs after the cancer has spread to the lining of the lung-- the cancer cells produce fluid that fills up the pleural space between the lung and the chest wall. This accumulated fluid compresses the lung and makes breathing extremely difficult, as the lung cannot fully expand.

My mother went into the hospital in January to have pleurodesis performed with talc and doxycycline (not pleasant), to seal up the pleural space in an attempt to stop the fluid from accumulating. This worked (or at least kept the problem at bay) for about 5 months. Her first round of chemo ended in mid-May 2006, and by the end of the month her fluid was back. She had a thoracentesis to remove the fluid on 6/2, and is going to need another one this week.

If it were me, seeing what my Mom has gone through, I would do anything to try to stop the cancer from spreading to the lining of her lung. I so badly wish that my mother's cancer had been caught when it was still at the operable stage. The fact that it spread to the lining of her lung and caused the pleural effusion changed EVERYTHING for us.

Of course, there are no guarantees at all, even when a patient opts for chemo, but if the surgeon said it looked "puckered", that would appear to suggest that perhaps there was some early possibly cancerous involvement with the lining?

Pleural effusion (malignant or not) is not a pleasant situation. It, more than the tumors in my Mom's lung, have negatively impacted my mother's life. The tumors have been stable since she underwent chemo. The pleural effusion is a nasty, invasive, recurring problem that won't go away.

Lung cancer is so often terribly aggressive-- knowing what I know now from my Mom's experience, I'd opt for the chemo. I'd want to fight with everything available to me.

Of course, it's your mother's decision-- if she's on the fence, then you might be able to help her by presenting some ideas or alternate scenarios, but if she's made up her mind not to do it, don't push.

I wish you and your mother the very best.

Hi. I too adenocarcinoma, approx 2 cmm in my lower right lung. Like your mother, my lymph nodes were clear and they removed the mass. It was near the lining which they don't like because it can travel via the blood stream. I opted for chemo because I felt if it improved the chance of cancer not returning even by 1 %, then it was worth it. I did 4 treatments of taxol and carboplatin and finished 3/13. I did fine with it, I did not get sick, just tired and my hair feel out. I say whatever you can do to fight this, fight it.
God Bless you.