Reoccurance Question

As many of you know mum is having chemo again for a reoccurance of OVCA. Stage 3 diagnosed march 2005, CA125 512. November 2007 mass in liver, CA125 68, started carboplatin and taxol. Mum had an appt with oncologist today who told her that there is nothing that can be done and she is basically on borrowed time. I am so upset that they have said this to her as I have read numerous things about cancer and chemo and there some people that live years with a mass in the liver.
I know that once the cancer has re-occured it can't be cured but surely its not the end.

[coogeegirl]

I am not really the one to tell you about this but I believe from reading this forum there is a procedure called radio frequency ablation which can be used for masses to the liver under certain circumstances, I am sure someone with more knowledge on the subject will be along soon....

[crecco]

Your mother should be able to have something done. Please read my post under: Carbo/Taxol not worked. I just explained radiofrequency Ablation to her. I hope this helps in some way.  Chris

[Stage3overseas]

My mom had a reoccurence and they found a mass in the liver just this week- now she's categorized at Stage 4,but her oncologist will start her on Caelyx tomorrow- and is confident can control the mass and other problems due to the cancer.  Therefore there is hope that something can be done.  I agree about liver mass and living for years- I've seen that with a family friend-  don't know what concrete actions to recommend you, other than insist on another treatment as suggested by all here.  Keep strong-

[Hazel30]

Im sorry to hear such news about your Mom.  Maybe nothing can be done to shrink or get rid of the liver mass but there should certainly be something attempted to at least control it for as long as possible.  My suggestion is dont stop here, seek other treatments.  There are so many chemo drugs out there and they should all be tried until you find something that may work and stabolize the disease.  
Its rough, I can imagine, but Im sure she's not ready to go anywhere so she will go through it.  
Take care

[meo132]

Sorry to hear about your mom.  I'm getting the RFA (radiofrequency ablation) done on my liver next week at UCSF.  It's a mimimally invasive procedure with a very high success rate, but it's only for relatively small tumors.  Hopefully your mom's isn't too big yet!

I was diagnosed with stage IIIC ovarian cancer in July 2005 at age 43 (CA 125 around 1000), had the big surgery (hysterectomy and partial colon resection) followed by the standard six-pack and a year of maintenance chemo ending November 2006, all tolerated very well.  CA 125 has been in the 5 to 7 range and I've been feeling great for over a year, but CA 125 was up a bit the past two months to 13.  Routine annual follow-up CT scan in November & later PET scan shows a small suspicious spot on the liver, hence the RFA next week at UCSF and the possibility of more chemo depending on the mini-second look and biopsies during the procedure.

Here's the UCSF website with comprehensive info:

www.rfa.ucsf.edu

Good luck and take care!

-meo

[crecco]

I don't know if you got a chanceto read the other post so I will fill you in. I was dx in Nov 05 at stage IV with mets to the liver. I did 8 rounds of carbo/taxol then had debulking surgery June 06. In July 06, I had an RFA done to get rid of the 3 remaining spots in my liver. All was good until Dec 06 when I had my first recurrence, in the liver. I was put on Doxil, and since the spots were not shrinking I had another RFA in May of 07. Both times the procedure was sucessful. Reducing the tumors to scar tissue. I now have 2 more spots in my liver, but since they seem to be getting smaller I am continuing chemo. (They can tell the difference between the old spots which as I said are scar tissue and anything new that shows up, by Pet or CT scans. The chemo is done in order to shrink the tumors as small as possible. The procedure itself just requires an over night stay in the hospital with litte to no pain afterwards. Even bettter, it can be repeated many times as it does not injure any healthy tissue. The procedure is done by an interventional radiologist. It would be something to check into for your mom.  Chris