2 cycles of CX and it's not worked...

[cheliZajaz]

I was diagnosed on 7th Nov with T3 N2 OC, and then went on 2 cycles of 21 days of CX.

on the 25th Jan I've had a scan to see the effectiveness... the aim was that it would shrink the tumour... I had been told back in Nov by two surgeons that they were confident they could operate and the chemo would make it 'even more' successful.

Wednesday I got initial CT scan results and annoyingly the primary cancer has not shrunk, its got larger... and it's spread to my ribs.

I get more info on Monday afternoon.

I feel totally devastated and all my positivism has drained away.

Since a few days before the last chemo tablets on the 24th Jan I have had difficulties with swallowing... to be fair, up until then, I had pretty much been okay within reason.

I am now anxious to hear what the next options, if there are options will be.

I just wish they had removed it initially, but i don't recall getting the option that it was 'optional' to have the chemo. I have subsequently read that some people are more involved in their treatment plan... admittedly I would have probably said yes because I think/thought the MDT team know best.

Its going to be a long weekend...

[Rsw1fe]

What rotten luck that the chemo didn't work. I know that most people do have chemo pre-op, that is the usual thing.

There are people on this site who have had the operation and survived for years even though they had a poor response to chemo.

I wish you all the best for Monday. Let us know what the surgeons tell you. We are thinking of you.

[Hidden]

Some people respond well to the chemo; others do not. I am not sure why this is. But the standard best treatment is normally to have the chemo before surgery because it has been shown, statistically, to yield better results. But the statistics for the hundreds of people who have had this condition over the years do not really apply to an individual case like yours. If the scans show that the tumour is still confined and the cancer has not spread, the surgeons will then consider proceeding as they mentioned earlier, if they can make sure that they deal with the lymph nodes that are affected or likely to be affected - that is fairly standard surgery detail.

The surgeons have adopted the standard best course for you, and the fact that the tumour has not responded is unfortunate. It is feasible that the chemo might have had a beneficial effect around the lymph nodes to mop up stray cancer cells notwithstanding that the tumour itself has grown, but the only way to find out whether this is true is to ask. I think the MDT probably did make the best decision at the time. The other side of the coin are those patients who undergo all the surgery and recovery process only to find that the cancer has recurred somewhere along the line. They then wonder whether they would have agreed to undergo the surgery if it was not going to be successful in curing the cancer. And if that happened when chemo could have been tried before the surgery but was not, there would again be a big question mark over whether the right course had been followed.

I suppose that there might be some possibility that you have an unusually aggressive tumour.

During the course of treatment there are inevitably times when things seem very bleak; and others when things go well. They are always a test of your resilience, made worse, perhaps, because one cannot control things as one would wish, and there is always a degree of uncertainty involved because there are no guarantees of success. And it is inevitable to wonder whether things might have been different - if only, if only etc.

It is a hard thing to come to terms with. All best wishes for next week!

[Spikey]

Sorry to hear your news. I had three cycles of ECX chemotherapy, which had no effect in reducing the size of my tumour. (They now routinely scan after only two cycles to save putting you through all three if it's not working). They subsequently went ahead and performed a standard Ivor Lewis operation to remove the tumour and neighbouring lymph nodes. That was almost 10 years ago. Good luck on Monday.

[gutlesswonder]

If, pre-chemo, two surgeons opined that you are operable then you should be on a winner.

I lost a couple of ribs due to spread. Now I have lovely new bodywork in fiberglass.........what you might call a vintage restoration to show-room condition!

Hope the Monday news was positive.

You must drive the process, not let it drive you.

All the best