Chemo testing on tissue

[Sandy]

Hi Susanne: I asked about this because I thought how neat to know what works and what doesn't. I was told that where it is in the lab and done on such a small amount of tissue its not the same as using it on a person. That its not very reliable so guess, that blew that theory. I believe Herceptin can be given with any one of the chemo drugs except for Adrimyacin (?sp)and then its too toxic to the heart. What kind of cancer did you start out with/ I have had skin mets twice so if you would like to e-mail me with questions pleae do so. I have quite a few posts here if you want to look them up. Hugs and good luck. Sandy

[susanne]

I have skin mets and they are not my first recurrence. They were in my lungs last year, and probably bone. I am told that skin mets are not a good sign and often mean the cancer is elsewhere, though not in every case. That is one reason they are treated sytemically. It is considered an internal problem.

[Sandy]

When one has skin mets that means it was in the skin before surgery and also in the lymphathics. It does not show up as tumors so the scans don't help much. Even though it sounds better to have skin mets its much more aggressive to treat and becomes resistent to chemo and radiation doesn't work. So far nothing shows in my body but I am aware that it is there and so its wait and see where it pops up next. I wish you well. Hugs, Sandy