If Chemo leaves no cancer detected, why do radiation?

ratface said:

more info
Homer , where was the primary and what stage was the cancer at? Any surgery?

What kind of
chemo was used? Cisplatin, Erbitux, or a cocktail?

Why do radiation
Like your wife, Buzz had to omit the 3rd round of "induction chemo" after two hospitalizations after rounds 1 and 2. The purpose of the induction chemo is the shrink the tumor and make it easier to target with radiation. My understanding is that radiation really kills the cancer and there may be some cancer cells remaining after chemo. So Buzz had 7 weeks of radiation with concurrent Erbitux chemo. Your really need to complete the full treatment to hopefully be cured. Karen

I met a woman who decided not to do radiation after doing chemo.
I met a woman who decided not to do radiation after doing chemo. She had breast cancer and thought exactly as you do. I met her 3 years after her first diagnosis I was undergoing radiation for my own cancer. She went against what the doctors recommended and figured the chemo and her own immune system would get the rest of the cancer. She was very wrong and she was very upset with herself for not listening to her doctors. Her cancer came back, worse. She is now undergoing radiation and her odds aren't as good. It is ultimately your choice, but if you trust your doctors and you are not a doctor yourself then you should listen to them. Shelly

Hondo said:

Hi Homer
It’s a good question, I am not sure I could give you a good answer; but this is my story. I did Radiation with out chemo for my first cancer NPC, I had a 98% chance of cure, I was clean for only about 11 months before it came back. The second time I did radiation with Chemo for NPC, I had only a 25% chance of cure and it still came back 14 months later. I was told I should have done the Radiation and Chemo the first time and killed it all then, so to me it is hard to say.

I do wish now that I would have done the radiation and Chemo the first treatment as it might have gave me a better chance of not coming back and saved me a lot of pain down the line.
Drill your doctor on the question and don’t be afraid to question his answer.

All the best to you both.
Hondo

Homer
This is C, Homer. Only way to error is on the side of the aggressive. That often means taking the patient to the limit of what they can tolerate. Again- this is C. I wish I could tell you just the Chemo would be enough, but from what I know, and with what you say she's diagnosed with- I think you would be foolish to disregard your Drs. advice. You might think the rads are ugly- but treating this half-aXXed is asking for it to get one heckuva lot uglier down the road, in my opinion. Even us, who've gotten all the Drs. can dish out, have a high risk of the C coming back, Homer. C don't just go away like an infection or virus.

Are you basing the C being gone on a Cat Scan? You shouldn't. She has to get a Pet Scan to get a good opinion on if it is, or isn't, gone. That's the way it is with all of us.

kcass

connieprice1 said:

I agree with everyone
I appreciate everyone taking the time to respond. I want what is best for my wife and I guess it looks like 33 rounds of radiation is the surest thing at this point. It has already been a rough road and we are only half way through treatment not counting recovery after treatment. Man, I tell ya "CANCER REALLY SUCKS" I do sometimes wonder, when the drug companies are behind so many of the clinical trials why they would be motivated to cure cancer if it would make their cancer drug obsolete. Just think, if cancer were like polio and an absolute cure was possible with a vaccine would anyone really come forward with it knowing that doctors who study cancer for years could be out of work, or cancer hospitals would have to start over trying to cure some other disease. My mother got lymphatic cancer in 1978 and she did chemotherapy 33 years ago. She fought the disease hard for 5 years and the day finally came when the doctors told her their was nothing more that they could do for her. I remember when I went home to see her for the last time how betrayed she felt because she had done everything that they had asked her to do and that they had given up on her. I realize that their has been many break throughs with chemotherapy since 1978 but my wife did 5FU recently and this chemo drug was invented in the 1950's. I pray that GOD will provide someone to come up with the cure for cancer, possibly gene therapy or stem cell research but it is discouraging to me that over the past 40 years that the big 3 in cancer is surgery, radiation and chemo.

true but...
that is true that the names of the treatments haven't changed much, but the methodology has changed so much. 5 years ago they would have had to remove my nose to get to my cancer...if they would have even bothered. 5 years ago I would have had to have standard radiation which would have caused severe side effects. instead I had my tumor removed using a scope through my nostril with a section being removed from my mouth, when they removed my hard palate (that was where my tumor grew from). then I had IMRT...they were able to target the tumor so well that they could "block out" my thyroid, brain, and eyes. before the invention of IMRT,those would have all be affected. plus I was able to use some incredible lotions for my skin, an oral rinse that they wouldn't have bothered with, and i was able ot be at home for my recovery time. just a few years ago, that would not have been possible. there have been huge leaps even in the last 7 years...that was when my grandmother died from liver cancer...they didn't do PET scans then to see if a tumor had spread...by the time they found her tumor, it was too late. she had already battled leukemia, only to be taken out by a hidden tumor. a PET scan would have shown a tumor. there is still hope that new advances will develop a cure...and an affordable one then!

connieprice1 said:

I agree with everyone
I appreciate everyone taking the time to respond. I want what is best for my wife and I guess it looks like 33 rounds of radiation is the surest thing at this point. It has already been a rough road and we are only half way through treatment not counting recovery after treatment. Man, I tell ya "CANCER REALLY SUCKS" I do sometimes wonder, when the drug companies are behind so many of the clinical trials why they would be motivated to cure cancer if it would make their cancer drug obsolete. Just think, if cancer were like polio and an absolute cure was possible with a vaccine would anyone really come forward with it knowing that doctors who study cancer for years could be out of work, or cancer hospitals would have to start over trying to cure some other disease. My mother got lymphatic cancer in 1978 and she did chemotherapy 33 years ago. She fought the disease hard for 5 years and the day finally came when the doctors told her their was nothing more that they could do for her. I remember when I went home to see her for the last time how betrayed she felt because she had done everything that they had asked her to do and that they had given up on her. I realize that their has been many break throughs with chemotherapy since 1978 but my wife did 5FU recently and this chemo drug was invented in the 1950's. I pray that GOD will provide someone to come up with the cure for cancer, possibly gene therapy or stem cell research but it is discouraging to me that over the past 40 years that the big 3 in cancer is surgery, radiation and chemo.

You and me, both-
would really, REALLY, like for there to be a cure. Not sure it's possible, though, with C being as it is.

As for the drug companies being part of the trials- the only reason for the trials are new drugs, or combinations. A co-worker's wife recently was diagnosed with NH Lymphoma. I started doing research for them, and lo and behold there's a company I'm invested in called Spectrum Pharmaceuticals that has a new drug, Zevalin, which might replace Rituxan, which is a harsh standard in Lympho treatment. This new drug apparently shows equal positives in regards to the C fighting with a Stage-2 human trial, and the side-effects are far less, and the cost savings are Bigtime, as one only takes this once, instead of the three Rituxan doses. So, one would think the FDA will put this on the fast-track. Not necessarily so- this just means a wider Stage-3 human trial begins. And the market? Biggest hurdle will be the marketing of Zevalin, as the Roche and Genetech giants control Rituxan, and that's a lotta clout. All I can find on the net says Zevalin is a major improvement on Rituxan in every way, including cost, and this is great news to every NH Lympho patient, but apparently the FDA doesn't have the same priorities as the patients with this C. And that is wrong.

Please keep us informed on how things go, Homer. You are here, now, so you are family to every one of us. Any questions or concerns- the answers we can provide, or attempt to, is what makes our day. Your wife, Connie, will win this battle for a long life with you. That's the fact that trumps all which comes her way with treatment. The road can get very rough, but she will survive.

Believe

kcass