Ok so we got the dreaded news… inoperable tumors

[Davevg]

My wife and I got the results from a recent CT. There are two golf ball sized tumors in her mesentery one by her spleen and the other is by her stomach exit which explains her problems as of late. These were not there three months ago. The Dr said they are inoperable and not curable at this point but they are going to try and go onto a control mode with chemo’s Taxotere and Carboplatin to shrink them. Due to extreme neuropathy and very low kidney function he sad some chemo’s can’t be used. Dr Goodman I  would love your input please.

[Davevg]

A related discussion, I'm at a loss was started.

[Davevg]

Got the word from Johns Hopkins on Friday my wife is not a candidate for surgery. That just ***** one less weapon in the arsenal.

[Davevg]

Sorry I know there are many here seeking advice from you and I don’t mean to be a pain in the butt and hog your time but I feel this urgent need to ask this. Are tumors found in the mesentery inoperable?? One other thing he said that bothered me was… he said there seems to be a thickening going on as well. Not sure what that means but this is beginning to feel hopeless to me. I believe in taking things on head on and have never been scared to do this but I have to say I’m scared as hell and I can’t even fathom how she feels at this point. Although she says she still has some hope I can tell after 33 years of being with her and 27 of those being married that she is slowly succumbing to the fact that she may not survive this. I started the ball rolling by calling johns Hopkins to review her current status and the history of this nightmare. At this point she has a hard time keeping food down unless she takes this pill to help empty her stomach. I know its hard because your not familiar with this case but I need the cold hard facts Dr Goodman. I know you like to keep it an upper on here and understand that so if you would like to send the answer to my E-mail that is fine.

[Annekathryn Goodman, M.D.]

Hi There
I am so sorry for the stress and worry that you must be under.

it is tricky
if we think the cancer is chemotherapy resistant (that means the cancer grew back within 6 months of primary platinum therapy), there really is not any reasonable justification for surgery.

that is a situation for either other main stream chemo drugs or clinical trial drugs
drugs t consider include:
doxil (currently experiencing a shortage of this drug in the USA)
cytoxan
topotecan
gemzar

additionally, there may be a role for trying bevicizumab or avastin. This is an anti-angiogenesis agent. There is a subset of women who respond really well to this

for chemotherapy sensitive disease (recurrence greater than 6 months), there can be a role for surgery if the disease looks resectable.
It is always possible to remove the spleen.the concern here  is the tumor by the stomach. It may not be possible to truly resect that.

the drugs are the same as mentioned above. but platinum is also an option.
please let us know what is going on
take care