Scans or ways to evaluate cancer after chemo?

[heblaj01]

After reading the previous posts & lurking into a similar debate raging in an other message board I am left with the following impressions:

1. Many believe that periodic scans in early non metastatic cancer is not providing any benefit in terms of overall survival.
This is said to them by their onc & it is mostly based on older clinical data.
Since this data is based on older chemo/radiation/surgery regimens it may not anymore apply in all cases with the advent of lower toxicity treatments which can be effective & tolerated over longer periods of time.
As the science progresses, even if a cure were not to come in the short term, we can expect that new treatments will eventually be able to stabilize the disease at a low level the way diabetes is controlled. This will require early diagnostic & treatment to avoid getting into metastatic stages.
The older first line treatments with some of their horrendous side effects may have shorten the lives of some patients when taken at an early stage or may have become ineffective without recourse to second line treatments instead of improving their fate.
A case in point is HER+ patients. In the past, quick progression & no effective treatment meant early diagnostic did not carry many benefits.

2.In the case of metastatic cancer more posts are inclined to favour frequent
diagnostic procedures such as scans in order to make early diagnostics of disease changes or for treatment monitoring (efficacy/resistance).
This is justified by the fact that metastatic disease is usually more agressive & progression is sometimes unnoticed by the patient (bone,brain, lever) until the lesions are painfull. As some remarked it is better to treat silent bone tumours before they turn into fractures,scoliosis, compression
fractures ...which can make life miserable (I can attest to that from the experience of a relative).

So, I believe that over time there will be less & less cases where early diagnostic will be considered as unimportant for improving survival & QOL.
And since new diagnostic markers for very early detection are in the works in labs we can hope they will match the forthcoming long term low toxicity treatments.

[vickie h]

Dear Heblaj01, Thank you for your insight, I agree with you. I asked for my PET scan because I was feeling symptoms of my cancer which, after doing the PET, we found had begun to spread in the nodes at my neck, and paratreacheal, hilar areas. I will now go to the City Of Hope and see if there is any new treatment for my IBC. Thank you for all of your support and kindness, I's so happy to have found this site. Love and prayers, Vickie H