Has anyone had a recurrance of endometrial cancer to lung?

What a nasty shock that must have been after all those years. My cancer came back in less than nine months (after hysterectomy, chemo and radiation), and even then, I had been living as if it was going to be gone forever and was really upset. Telling people it was back was the worst.

Did they do a biopsy of your current tumor? Did they test it for mutations so that they can tell whether immunotherapy alone might work?

@gaylepc After 9 years I expect you might have felt cancer would not be in your future. Coughing blood must have been very frightening. Having written that though I know that recurrence or a new cancer lurks in the minds of cancer survivors. I was diagnosed with endometroid adenocarcinoma, FIGO 1, Stage 1a in 2019 and then had a recurrence of endometrial cancer on the vaginal cuff two years later. I received radiation therapy for the recurrence. So, I have not had your experience of lung cancer.

Has your oncologist talked with you a recommendation for treatment plan?

Yes, it jas been biopsied and tested for mutations. My next step is to see the Radiologist/Oncologst to see if it's a candidate for radiation. It's in the Perihilar region, close to the heart and major blood vessels. It can't be surgically excised.

I am still in shock, but after 6 weeks and multiple tests and prceedures, at least they are sure what it is an can now address it. I am sad, angry, and scared all at the same time. This should not have happened after so many years, but it did, and it does. Cancer is a sneaky illness.

We are just getting to that part. There has been so much testing just to figure out what it was. They originally thought it was stabe 1b lung cancer. But, after CT and PET scans, bronchoscopy and CT guided lung biopsy, the cells match my uterine tumor exactly. Lucky that they still had the slide of my uterine tumor for comparison.

I now have a Pulmonologist, a Gyn/Onchologist, a Radiologist/Onchologist and there will likely be one more consuting onchologist. Hoping within two weeks they will be treating it more agressively. Right now I am just on Letrazole to slow or stop estrogen production. Gyn hopes that will begin to shrink the tumor.

@gaylepc I know you are frightened and angry as I would be. I hope that with the collaboration of your cancer care team that you have Hope (optimism with a plan). You are doing everything possible with all the testing, your team and eventually your treatment plan to knock this tumor down and out.

My husband is a pathologist (retired) and I'm going to ask him what the standard is for keeping slides. It shows excellent care that your medical center kept, stored, and accessed your slides for comparison.

When are your next series of appointments?

Helen, my next appointment is tomorrow with my Pulmonologist, then on Monday I meet with the Radiologist Oncologist. I should know tomorrow if we wil be adding another Oncologist to the team. I do feel that I have an excellent team, at this point, and they come with high marks as individual physicians. Loads of experience, and top-of-the-line training.

The hurry up and wait is just so stressful. I am the kind of person that does much better in action.

I just want to ring in to say that I am sad and angry that you are having this shocking and frightening experience, @gaylepc. It eerily mirrors that of my sister, who died 6 months prior to my diagnosis with and successful surgery (so far) for Stage I FIGO 1 endometrial adencarcinoma in January 2023. My reading and discussions with my oncology team members have led me to understand that the lungs are a frequent site for metastasis when there has been a recurrence. By that time (also 9 years later and after surveillance was no longer considered standard care), my sister had had a stroke that impacted her ability to advocate for herself, and her daughter had a very difficult time getting her team to consider that her breathing difficulties and coughing of blood had anything to do with her previously treated (stage I, radical hysterectomy, clean sentinel nodes) endometrial adenocarcinoma. But that relationship was finally discovered and she underwent radiation and chemo. Her life was extended for a year and she had time to say beautiful good-byes. For this reason, I have chosen to take any reassurances with appreciation and a tiny grain of salt, and will continue to seek surveillance as long as I am able, while doing what I can to reduce my chances of recurrence.

I'm so very glad that your team recognized that this is what's going on and can offer you a comprehensive treatment plan very soon. I trust and hope that your ability to self-advocate, as you have, will result in a much better outcome for you. I will be very grateful for whatever extent you are able and willing to share what plan you ultimately choose for your care and will be wishing you well with it on every level. Keeping you in my thoughts and cheering you on from here on, @gynosaur

@gaylepc Will you let me know what you learn from your pulmonologist? I may be off-line most of tomorrow.

It’s good to know that you have confidence in your well-trained cancer care team.

The pulmonologist had no new information, just went over my lung function tests which provided nothng new, just confirmed that I have COPD which is manageable.

I see the Radiologist Oncologist on Monday and maybe (hopefully) the beginnings of a treatment plan will happen.

I wasted no time jumping on this and my Gyn Oncologist keeps using the term, long term management with frequent testing, which I figure has to bode reasonably well.