Hello to all, I had chemo x5 and radiation therapy x23 early 2024 resulting in a very good PET scan result. My surgeon here in Tasmania is very experienced in Ivor Lewis esophagectomies and told me that - 10% survival rate for those who opt out of surgery, PET scans are not sensitive enough to pick up individual surviving cancer cells that may cause a recurrence, if surgery is declined and a relapse occurs, surgery is often no longer an option due to the “unstable” nature of the relapsed tumour - tends to go for lungs, liver and / or bones. I had the surgery in May 2024 and have been feeling pretty good for several months now - minor improvements are still happening. Pathology results from the resected tissue showed no surviving cancer cells. It may well be that for me, surgery was not needed. Unfortunately, I had to have it to get reliable pathology results.
Improvements in treatment and outcomes are happening very rapidly which means it’s a good idea to exercise great care if Googling information re the cancer or treatments or survival statistics. The stakes are very high for the cancer patient and their family and friends and many of us suffer from an information overload at a very stressful time.
Wishing you all the best with your decision and treatment. Geoff