laser ablation of liver mets (when few) may extend survival a median of five years!

Lani · 12-06-2007, 11:28 AM

http://www.docguide.com/news/content...2573A6008195A2

Hopeful · 12-06-2007, 12:15 PM

Lani,

The emerging picture I am seeing from this and other published articles is that surgical removal of early brain, lung and liver mets is not only a viable but quite possibly a superior alternative to cyototoxic treatments. Lets hope these therapies become available to more patients very soon.

Hopeful

Jean · 12-06-2007, 02:07 PM

To tag onto Hopeful,
Why oh Why do the onc. push for no scans....and tell the patient to
wait for symptoms...it is my insight that through technology treatments
are changing....why are the dr. NOT keeping up ...?

Regards,
Jean

Jean · 12-06-2007, 02:08 PM

Lani,
Thank you for this article..always appreciate your posts.

Jean

CLTann · 12-06-2007, 02:52 PM

Oncs should allow patients to get tests when she has some suspicion of abnormality. The oncs also have a responsibility of advising the patients the cumulative danger of radiation (as well as chemo). Ultrasound and MRI, whenever applicable, should be suggested.

eric · 12-06-2007, 08:04 PM

Lani,

Excellent post!

Thank you,
Eric

fullofbeans · 12-10-2007, 01:25 PM

This is the treatment I did almost 12 months ago.

They treated 3 tumours, very professionally. Their results is similar to resection but with incomparable post op stress, it was done in few hours and went home in the evening. I am eternally grateful to them

Joan M · 12-10-2007, 07:41 PM

Lani,

Thanks for the article.

In showing that surgery can offer a benefit in some cases, the article is different from others I've read which indicated that surgery has not been shown to have a survival benefit over chemo regimens.

Oncologists often don't recommend surgery even when it's an option.

When I first learned of a solitary pulmonary nodule in my left lung I asked my onc about surgery. She was very hesitant, saying it was a high price to pay if the cancer spreads.

I had a wedge resection to remove the nodule from my lung, and even if my breast cancer comes back in my lung again or elsewhere, I know it can't come back in that particular spot.

Surgery can also be used effectively for single mets to the breast bone.

janet/FL · 12-10-2007, 10:44 PM

Joan and others
I have a friend in the San Francisco area that has had BC twice, several years apart. (don't know what kind of BC, I think ER+) Now, a few years later, she has a spot on her lung. I strongly urged her to get a second opinion as her doctor was just of the wait and we will rescan and see if it grows, train of thought.
She got the second opinion and they said they will do a biopsy. If it is lung cancer, they will remove it, and if BC, they will do chemo. I have urged her to push for surgery. Now however, I am hesitant to do so as I have another friend who just had a part of his lung removed (no cancer found) and he was in tremendous pain--for a long time.

Can you tell me if you had a lot of pain (it didn't seem so in your post) and where you went for treatment? I would like to be able to recommend alternatives. She is in her 70's, I think, but very active, traveling all over the world. I would hate for her to have chemo, she didn't have it before, if she could have something gentler to the body.

Thanks in advance for any ideas you may have.

Joan M · 12-11-2007, 08:33 AM

Janet,

I'm sorry that your friend is having to go through this after having been diagnosed twice with BC.

I too had a solitary pulmonary nodule (SPN). I had a wedge resection to remove it. Recently, I answered someone on this board with a lot of detail about SPNs and biopsies, and CT scan and PET scan results. She had an SPN which showed up on a CT scan. Here is the link:

http://her2support.org/vbulletin/sho...highlight=Erin

It's disheartening that your other friend who had part of his lung removed ended up not having cancer.

I did not have a lot of post-surgical pain because I was able to have minimally invasive surgery, or video-assisted thorasic surgery (VATS). Some surgeons are able to remove a lobe as well with VATS, if they are specialists in this type of surgery. This is something to find out about from the surgeon. I had one surgeon tell me that he could do a wedge resection with VATS, but if he started the surgery and found he needed to do a lobectomy, he'd switch to a thoracotomy in mid-stream. So, obviously, I didn't choose him as my surgeon.

I'm imaging that your friend had a thoracotomy to remove a lobe (or at least to remove more than a wedge). The thoracotomy is known to be the most painful surgical cut of all surgical cuts, resulting in a lot of pain that takes a long time to go away.

The surgeon cuts down from the area of the nipple to almost the end of the ribs in a circular motion that comes back up the back under the shoulder blade (the patient is on their side). The skin is flapped back and a lot of muscle is cut. The muscle is flapped back. The ribs are separated, and in come cases a rib may be removed.

With VATS, I had three cuts of which none was more than 2 1/2 inches long. One cut was made an inch or two below my arm pit, one was down near my lowest rib on my side, and a third was just under my shoulder blade. Two openings were used for the surgical instruments, and a third was used for a videocamera. I may have had a small piece of one of my ribs removed, but I'm not sure.

And even with this minimally invasive procedure, I still had pain and was out of work for a month recuperating.

Someone on this board posted an educational video of a lobectomy via VATS. Here is the link: http://her2support.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=31422

Please give your friend my best wishes, and hopefully the nodule is something benign.

Joan

janet/FL · 12-11-2007, 08:23 PM

Joan
Thank you so much for the information. I will pass this along to her and her daughter so they can make a more informed decision.
Blessings

fullofbeans · 12-14-2007, 10:57 AM

Hi just wanted to clarify that laser treatment is forf liver mets not lung mets..

janet/FL · 12-14-2007, 12:06 PM

Yes, I know but thanks for stating it. Maybe the laser can be used for other mets as it sure beats some of the other choices!

Lani · 12-29-2007, 07:37 AM

take a deep breath and clear your brain and put "liver Lani" into the search box you will find many articles I have posted on liver mets and their treatment and prognosis

The first that comes up:

laser ablation of liver mets (when few) may extend survival a median of five years!
http://www.docguide.com/news/content...2573A6008195A2

You didn't say if you had many or few. Where in California did you go? Perhaps someone could recommend someone for you to see.

I recall that I have posted articles showing good results with various treatment modalities.

So put those words in the search engine, put on your seatbelt and go on a treasure-hunt through "the armory of info."

Recently someone posted that the information I provided on Boswellia serrata for brain mets shrunk their tumors ~40% and kept them at bay
for a prolonged period before another treatment became available.

That was gratifying, as even though I had no personal experience in the matter, the product of my research had made a significant difference when brought to the attention of her doctor.

I am not qualified to give advice and really do my best not to even try (other than to try to stay informed and ask questions). But if you are looking for information, I sure post a lot!

HOPE SOME OF THIS HELPS!

Barbara2 · 12-29-2007, 07:17 PM

Lani, that webpage cannot be found...

Lani · 12-29-2007, 09:04 PM

http://www.docguide.com/news/content...2573A6008195A2

Lani · 12-29-2007, 09:05 PM

is a total mystery to me!