clinical trials

[MRS9517]

what is the servival rate for clinical trials.  Multi-organ squamous cell

[Fernando Roque, MD]

Hi.  The survival rate depends on what specific treatment was used in the clinical trial, and what organ the squamous cell carcinoma originated from (e.g. lung, head and neck, skin, unknown primary site, etc.).  I can answer your question better if you can give me more details regarding the patient being treated (age, sex, etc.), the type of cancer being treated (lung, head and neck, etc.), and the treatment being given.  Hope to hear from you soon.

[MRS9517]

Thank you for responding.  My daughter in-law is the patient.  She had surgery two years ago to remove squamous cell from the bridge of her nose that extended across the eyebrow and up the forehead.  DR. had to remove the eyebrow and portions of her forehead because the cancer went through the bone barely missing the brain. The DR. said that it may come back and when it does, it can be anywhere including the brain. Anyway, it's back and with a vengeance. Now, DR's, thought it was just on her lung, attempted surgery to remove it.  Didn't, due to it being too large and also so many more tumors other than lung (multi-organ) and said something about a lot of mucus with in her. This is her fourth cance center she has been to in the last two months.  All of them told us the same thing, (There is nothing we can do other than do radiation and chemo to slow down the cancer).   Now, as for what trial, I am not sure what the drug is but supposedly she will be getting a shot twice a week at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Texas starting next week if she qualifies for the trial, we find out Monday. She is 25. She did two treatments of radiation.  She also has MS. Wish I knew what stage of cancer it is to tell you but I don't.
Hope to hear back from you soon.  Thank You so much !

[Fernando Roque, MD]

Hi.  The five year survival rate for advanced stages of squamous cell carcinoma originating from the skin, and which has spread to the lymph nodes is around 28-45% even with proper treatment.  With multiple organ involvement, the survival rate is even lower than 28%.  Since your daughter-in-law is going to be given a drug which is still in the process of being tested, we don't know how much of an improvement it's going to make on her chances for survival.  My advice is for her to go ahead and enroll in that trial if she qualifies.  At this point, she has nothing to lose.

[MRS9517]

Thank You Fernando for the info, very helpful.  Should she do the chemo and radiation on top of the trial ? I know it helps slow down the growth of the cancer.
MARY

[Fernando Roque, MD]

Hi.  If your daughter-in-law gets accepted into a clinical trial, she would have to follow a specific treatment protocol outlined by that study.  I don't know whether that involves radiation and additional chemotherapy on top of the study drug.  What I know is that these types of trials have contingencies for dealing with the event of treatment failure with the test drug.  So rest assured that your daughter-in-law is going to receive adequate treatment every step of the way.

[MRS9517]

Thank you for all your info Fernando !
MARY