SD?

Posted By Jared Stoehr on June 05, 1997 at 20:11:57:









I wrote to you a few weeks back and appreciate your prompt response and insight.  My previous question was with my wife's recurrent Medulloblastoma in the basal ganglia and you wrote about my concerns that estrogen supplements may have prompted the recurrence.  My question today is of Stable Disease.  I'm trying to understand what stable disease really means.  Ellen's first MRI was on 2/7/97 which showed the recurrence at 2.4 x 3.0 cm.  After 2 rounds of Cytoxan (3400mg over 2 days and 5600mg over 2 days) the MRI on 5/7 showed the tumor at 2.6 x 4.8 cm.  One would think the tumor was not responding to the Cytoxan but there were 2 months between the first MRI and treatment where the tumor was likely growing.  Ellen's latest MRI showed "no change and no increase in mass effect" compared to the MRI 3 weeks previous.  In these 3 weeks she did not receive any treatment.  We have continued with the Cytoxan (6400mg over 2 days) and will have another MRI in 3 weeks.  We're hoping for a response and will move forward to high-dose Cytoxan/Carboplatin/Thiotepa with stem cell transplant if possible.  Could the tumor be in "stable disease"?  What is stable disease anyway?  Can a malignant tumor just go dormant and How?  Could the Cytoxan perhaps disable the cancerous cells' ability to reproduce without signalling apoptosis?  You offer a wonderful service and I will not continue to ask all my questions on your Forum, but I have long been confused with "stable disease".
Thank You