No reponse to Chemotherapy

[Anshul_Mittal]

Hi, my mother was diagnosed with stage-IV ovarian cancer in the first week of december. She had masive pleural effusion in the left lung. However, her abdomen was clear.The doctor said that she cannot be operated right away and she'll have to go through 3 cycles of Chemotherapy( Taxol and Carboplatin) before surgery can take place.

She has been given 2 doses since then with little effect on the pleurl effusion.The fluid keeps coming back even after tapping.However, her CA-125 level has dropped significantly to about half the original value.

I'm not able to decide whether these are positive signs or not and whether there are any chances of recovery.

Plese help me out......

[Helmar]

Hello... I'm just wondering if your Mum's abdomen is clear, why can't the Doctor continue with the chemo to try and reduce the the problem with her lungs? There are lots of chemos 'out there' and some that I'm sure would work better on her lungs. With the fact that you say her abdomen is clear, that seems very positive to me, so it seems that there is only the lungs that are causing her problems at the present time?
Definitely seek a second.... or third opinion, and do it soon. This horrid disease doesn't wait around for us to make up our minds on what to do next.
I was dx Stage 4 in Feb'04, so tell your Mum not to give up. Btw.. if the CA.,125 is reducing, then to me, that is a very good sign. Don't know about your Mum's Doctor?
Wishing her all the best...hugs...Helen...

[Anshul_Mittal]

I don't know. Our doctor said that the refilling should have stopped by now.He is saying that now they'll have to insert a tube in her lungs to stop the fluid from coming back

[Kimchi]

I was told by my doctor that it will 3-4 cycles for the chemo to stop the pleural effusion in my lung...If the CA125 is dropping, doesn't that mean it is working ?

[Anshul_Mittal]

Thanks a lot for sparing some time to consider my problem.We are certainly going to go for second opinion.

There is some bad news though.The doctor discontinued my mom's treatment today because the chemotherapy was having no positive effect.

It would be really nice if someone could tell me if a similar thing has happened to them.

thanks in advance...

[Brownie3321]

Hello there. It's very hard to say whether or not the chemo is doing exactly what they have intended. First off, it's not unusual to have chemo first before surgery to help shrink the tumors. Also, it is not unusual for the fluid to keep coming back when you have ovca. Unfortunately, that is one of the dreaded side effects of the cancer. If her CA-125 numbers have gone down quite a bit, that could be a great sign. It's not 100% accurate, but it can be used as a good marker. Have you had a second opinion? That is always a good thing to do when you are dealing with ovca. Best of luck to you and your mom, Deandra