Diagnosed with Ameloblastoma
Reaching out to anyone else wanting to connect with others diagnosed with Ameloblastoma and the journey involved.
My background, diagnosed February 2021, segmental mandibulectomy, fibula free flap March 2021.
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That’s my concern actually. As I replied to @tschwerdt, they want to do the procedure and remove 2 molars and do a biopsy at that time.
Hey, the most common procedure is to do the biopsy before removing it however they may want to do it due to your sons history of cancer however maybe if you menthol in your next appointment that you’d prefer knowing before anything is removed because it’s an intense process to be thrown in at once. Hope you guys are doing well in this time.
Thank you. That’s my gut feeling as well. We just recently found there was a problem, and only saw the surgeon on Wednesday. I knew I had an issue with their recommendation but not until I saw all of your posts that I could put it all together. Thank you.
Both times I had a biopsy and a pathology report before any more significant treatment.
First round (~2007) I did "conservative" surgery which included two teeth and a big chunk of jawbone + autologous bone transplant + dental implants, which got me though to 2023 - this time I've pushed hard to pursue chemotherapy because my ameloblastoma has a the BRAF V600E mutation - and there is a recently FDA approved oral (pills) chemotherapy for other cancers with that specific mutation.
I’m going to push for a biopsy prior to any other procedures. Thank you for connecting with me.
Keep us in the loop - hope it works out for you, and let us know how we can help.
My real concern about treating a "cyst" before biopsy is - what if it isn't a cyst? If it's ameloblastoma, they're going to want to go back in and do even more extensive surgery - something I personally wasn't willing to do until I exhausted other options.
New paper out on targeted treatment of mandibular ameloblastoma with the BRAF V600E mutation. It appears to be a more detailed version of the conference poster from 2022. I don't have access to the full paper yet, working on it.
https://academic.oup.com/jnci/article-abstract/116/4/539/7421919
Hey, folks! Just checking in since it's been a few weeks. I'm keeping on keeping on - interim bloodwork looked good, energy levels are reasonable, next imaging visit for me should be sometime in the second half of June.
Any updates from anyone? Also, specifically from @anbar04 and @zigvero24
Hey, keeping on keeping on sounds good and the results for you also sounds good I’m so happy for you. For me I feel pretty good too the swelling has mostly gone and my energy levels have gone up since I joined the gym. I’m just preparing for university in 4 months! My consultant found that everything looks good I just am still struggling with some foods but I’m sure that’ll come in time especially since I only have a plate. How is everyone else?