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Is it possible to recover from Stage 4 Ovarian Cancer?

Hi there, I recently posted before about my mom with a CA125 of 3140. We got the results from a CT scan confirming it is in fact ovarian cancer stage 4.

My question is are people able to recover from stage 4 Ovarian Cancer considering it has spread into the abdominal tract, etc.?

Any comments or help would be appreciated.

Thanks.
18 Responses
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Avatar universal
A related discussion, Is Avastin used for ovarian cacner now? was started.
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Avatar universal
Hi Julie,
I'm staged 4B and I've been on Topo since June for a recurrence in my lymph nodes.
They're watching a spot on my liver which hasn't grown for 6 months, and the Topo is working to keep the cancer from spreading to other organs.
I'm wondering what chemo you were on?
I hope you're doing well.... Jane
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564735 tn?1263943526
Hi,
In  Aug08 my ovca recurred with metasis to the liver. and I was dx with stage iv ovca. a ct scan found two tumors in my liver and in a lymph node. As of feb09 the tumors were all gone...since that ct scan I have had two more chemo treatments. Now I need to say the tumors in my liver were very small and the recurrence was caught very very early. Also my OVCA was not acting like the traditional OVCA, so my chemo regime was not taxol/carbo. There are a lot of factors in how well your mom will do. How much of the disease can they remove by doing surgery...the more they can get out the better. How much cancer was there? I personally feel that stage iv can be beaten but it is a battle and to be truthful the cancer has the upper hand . So my advice is to treat ovca with the most agressive treatments your mom can take. I will pray for your mom and your family. Julie
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Avatar universal
I was diagnosed in October, 2007...no symptoms just a groin pain that is unrelated.
MRI's showed cysts but orthopedist, internist, and gyn who saw the MRI reports said not
to worry, always benign. By the time I was diagnosed 6 months later I was #3C. I had
surgery within a week and gallbladder, appendix, and omentum were removed. I had
a mursa infection of the incision and chemo was delayed for two months because of the
infection that needed to be healed. I was 1000 at diagnosis and 500 after 1st chemo.
I have had 16 chemos: carbo/taxol (9 rounds); taxotere (2) Arimedex (1) and now
Doxil (4)..my CA-125 is 95 but it was lower after 9 rounds of carbo/taxol. We are living
in a temporary residence to be near family and friends. I was told by our local ovarian
support group that I would be lucky to be alive in two years...it is almost that now. The
community hospital where i get care now has ongoing support programs including
massage, accupuncture, accupressure, meditation, yoga, reiki, and I take advantage of
them all when I can. In addition, I see an outside psychiatric nurse for depression--again
at no charge since I am in active treatment. This is not a teaching hospital, but rather
a community hospital. My impression is that success depends a lot on the expertise
of the medical staff as well as the support staff..I eat well when I can but it has been
a very long time on Chemo and once in a while I like dessert too. Eating healthy can
be awfully boring. Those little flax seeds get in my teeth. I take a multi vitamin. I also
take Calcium with D, Biotin, and a Vitamin D supplement. I am on coumadin because
I had a pulmonary embolism in surgery so that limits the green stuff that I can eat.
I post my food intake on mypyramidtracker, a free government site that will analyze
both your food and exercise program for the day and week. It is a good resource.
Carolyn424
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110491 tn?1274481937
I've heard the same thing. Chemo breaks the cycle of fast growing cells - that's why it also has a detrimental effect on your hair and intestinal tract both of which have fast growing/dividing cells.

I think the downside of grade 3 tumors is that they grow so fast that they are more likely to have spread by the time one is diagnosed, whereas grade 1 tumors move a little slower.

I was grade 3, stage 3C, had optimal surgery, a very fast response to chemo (tumor marker down to 19 after treatment No. 2) and am still in remission (dx 11/23/05).

In regards to stage 4 prognosis: it being the most advanced stage of any cancer, it's generally not good. BUT: I personally know two women who had a mother and a sister respectively with stage 4 OvCa - diagnosed in the 1970s - that are still alive today, with no recurrence.
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Avatar universal
Very interesting. Never knew or thought about the chemo not working as good on grade 1 for those reasons.
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135691 tn?1271097123
I have to respectfully disagree about the grades of cancer. A Grade one cancer is still cancer - not any less malignant than a grade 3. I have a grade one cancer, and although you would think that would be a blessing, it's quite the opposite. Grade one cancers have slow dividing cells as opposed to grade 3 cancers, which have fast dividing cells. Chemotherapy usually only works on fast dividing cells, so for people like me, my cancer won't respond to conventional chemo. Although my cancer is a grade one, it is extremely aggressive. I don't mean to make an argument out of nothing, but I can assure you, having a grade one cancer does not mean your out of the woods. Doesn't matter what grade it is...it's still cancer.
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272338 tn?1252280404
Hi... I hope things go well for each and every one of you. You will hear so many different things; do this, do that, don't do this, don't do that, the statistics are, your chances are, and countless others. But above and beyond all, DO NOT ever give up. Stats are just that, stats. You are not a statistic! I was dx with stage IV metastatic ovarian cancer in Nov. 2005 and was later told by 3 different Dr.s that they hadn't expected me to make it for even 1 year. Well as you can see, it"s now been 2 years and I have no visible disease. After my hysterectomy and initial chemo my CA-125 finally was normal but that only lasted a few months. I was on maintenance chemo when I had my first recurrence and am now on my 2nd chemo since. Last week my CA-125 was down to 159, the lowest in over a year. Other than my body adjusting to the different chemo meds I have felt great. Oh, I have my good and my bad days but then doesn't everybody? After initial dx shock wore off, I realized I wasn't ready to go yet. I had too many things in life that I still wanted to do. Even though I have been told I will be on some form of chemo for the rest of my life, hey, if thats what it takes, then I guess chemo is just a part of my life now. Once I was told it was cancer, I realized I was getting ready for the fight of my life and it was one that I could NOT lose. And most of all, I refuse to give up. My prayers and best of luck to each of you out there that are fighting this same battle.  
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16702 tn?1234090645
I understand what she means when she says she feels good with chemo.. after almost one year of not feeling well, I,too, felt much better once I was on chemo.  I think it's the fact that all that suffering stopped once I started the chemo cause it attacked the problem right away for me. The side effects were mild compared to before starting it. Sending your mom possitive energy.
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Avatar universal
Hello... and I'd like to wish you M.I.L. well, and hope the operation is successful, and she can go into a good and long remission.
Best wishes...Helmar..
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Avatar universal
Hi-
My mother in law was diagnosed 2 weeks ago with stage 4 ovarian cancer.  Althhough she hasn't had surgery, her gyn/onc says that it is stage 4 because of mets to her liver.  The past couple of weeks have been tremendously hard on everyone.  She had her first chemo this past friday.  She is doing the carbo/taxol.  That afternoon, after that very first treatment, it was like a change had come over her.  She is tired, but feeling tons better than she did prior to diagnosis.  She has a very positive attitude and has faith in her Lord that she is going to get thru this difficult time.  I, being in the medical field, of course try to forget "all the bad stuff" that comes with this type of cancer and just try to concentrate on her and her symptoms.  Her gyn/onc said that you are never "cured" from OC, but that you can live a relatively normal life if you choose to treat it.  I have had patients in the past who have died within a week of diagnosis, but then there are others who are going on 7 year survival.  I pray that my mother in law is one of those.  She told me today she never knew chemo would make her feel so good.  I don't know if its the chemo or God or a combination of both.  I am just pleased that she feels good.  We are planning on about 4 treatments and then they will go in and remove the mass on the ovary. (Probably a complete hysterectomy)  I am just praying that the cancer responds to the treatment.  Her ca 125 number was 217.  I noticed that is a lot lower than a lot of posters on this site.  I wish you all luck and my prayers are with you all.
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Avatar universal
Hello... I was dx Stage 3c in Feb.04, but this was later elevated to Stage 4 because of bowel involvement. After my operation and 6 rounds of chemo, I was 'free' for about 9 months, before the cancer reappeared. I've been doing chemo 'off and on' since then, but feel great, eating well, and living an active lifestyle. My CA.125 was 7500 in mid December, but it's now down to 360 with a further reduction anticipated when I have my blood test next week. I don't think about cancer... just take each day as it comes, and get on with life. I don't take any extra vitamins or supplements, but do eat very healthy. I personally think that having a good mental attitude does help a lot too.
I hope your Mum is a fighter, and she doesn't give in to this.
Wishing you and your Mum the best.   hugs...Helmar...
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Avatar universal
Somehow with all the confusion and shock of having the disease the most often overlooked quality of the cancer is the tumor grade. But tumor grade plays a big role on what kind of treatment the patient may undergo. You can see the grade in the pathology report.

Most epithelial cancers are categorized by three grades of cells:

Grade 1 -  the least malignant, with well-differentiated cells  
Grade 2 -  intermediate, with moderately differentiated cells  
Grade 3 -  the most malignant, with poorly differentiated cells  

Overall, low-grade (e.g., Grade 1) tumors grow more slowly and have a better prognosis than high-grade tumors.

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Avatar universal
I would like to thank everyone for posting a comment as it has been very helpful during these difficult times.

THankyou from the bottom of my heart for all your help guys.

Good luck to all of you.

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167426 tn?1254086235
My daughters cancer was staged at 3C  but after surgery THO/ small resection/anastomosis  of bowel, some lymph nodes, she went through her 6 first line chemo, went back to work, recurred in 4 1/2 months and is now doing a clinical trial, she has felt pretty good throughout the whole ordeal, has her tired days, eats a very healthy diet, took many supplements with the first chemo, which really helped, not allowed to take them now with the clinical, she is 50 yrs old. she still goes to work daily and feels pretty good most of the time . Attitude towards the cancer is important,  don't dwell on it all the time, live your life as normal as possible.  Cut out all stress, exercize, fresh air,  be positive about your self, if your Mother hasn't has her surgery yet, find the best Onocologist , with lots of experience to do the surgery.  A cancer center that handles lots of cancer patients is the best.  There are stage 4 survivors out there, they tell beautiful stories about their ordeals and courage.
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Avatar universal
You are right!  I forgot to mention staging comes during surgery!  This will be in the surgeons report as well if they don't tell you.  There is only so much you can see with scans/x-rays...when they get 'inside' there, they can tell exactly how much has spread.
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Avatar universal
The answer is yes, however if you look at the statistics it's small (say around the 'teens' in percentile).  Stage III is in the twenties and thirties.  But the overall picture is that of any cancer...if you are Stage I, your success if pretty darn good (look at melanoma...it's easy to spot and you can get treated...if you don't, it's bad!).

The real short answer is yes and no.  Will she be cured?  Probablly not...in-fact, no...it's rare after this much metastasis.  Can she be cured?  Yes.  The body can do anything...for the 'clinical' definition of cured, that means 5 years cancer free (not really cancer free but without progression of the cancer).  There have been Stage IV ovarian cancer survivors who are 'cured' and died of other natural causes.  Others have gone years without a recurrance and died with the last one.  There is, unfortunatley, no crystal ball to answer your question...and I know exactly what you are feeling now and it's tough.  You want answers and you are not going to get them and nobody can honestly tell you what will happen.  It's a sickening wait and see period we all have to go through.

The thing to remember is it's not really the stage of your cancer that is going to determine if she wins or loses the battle, it's three things:

1) The pathology of her ovarian cancer/platinum resistance:  genetic testing is out there, but you'll have to flip the bill and it may not even be worthwhile (yet).  You will need to request this report from the hospital to find out the 'type' of ovarian cancer.  From there it's almost a waiting game to find out if the cancer will be resistant to platinum, the 'gold' standard of ovarian cancer treatment.  They have tests on the horizon for this but it's not here yet

2) Overall Condition:  This is something you can take part in...it is darn though after surgery...especially with intestinal surgery.  It (may...everyone is different!) take a while to get back on track.  Excellent nutrition is the key, but that is tough!  Dr's want you to 'eat eat eat' but never tell you about nutrition...but it's vital in fighting ovarian (or any) cancer.  Immune system is important too...but dr's won't tell you about this (unless it's a prescription type like neulasta for white blood cells).

3) Stress/Mental:  Ovarian Cancer *thrives* on stress.  Metastasis (spreading of the cancer) and tumor 'growth' happens much quicker when individual is under stress compared to those who are not.  Remember that!  While this is a *very* tough time, she will have to try and find some inner peace and tranquility and help her body fight!  Especially with chemotherapy the body takes yet another wack.

This is my opinion though, but most anyone here can tell you that you have to do your own research as well because the dr's won't (and don't) know much beyond the standards of today.  Most are sceptical (remember about two decades ago oncologists said nutrition had *nothing* to do with cancer...that has completely turned around today as we know better!) of complimentary methods, most were not even taught nutrition in school.

I wish the both of you the best of success!  

Alan

------------
Ovarian Cancer Research Website (In BETA Testing)
http://cancer.alanpeto.com/
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167426 tn?1254086235
You did not mention if the surgery has been done to remove all the surgeon can,  then comes  the first line of chemo,  if no surgery yet, a dx of OVCA cannot be made, staging is done during surgery,  stage 4 means it has spread to places outside the ovary like to the bowell, bladder, liver, spleen etc.  Women now days have many chances of killing the cancers ,  OVCA research is very much in the lime light right now, many new drugs are being used and tested.  She does stand a chance along with many others of beating this, OVCA is now being treated as a cronic disease often.  Good Luck
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