Connect
Keytruda working, but Surgery Inevitable
Hello friends, My dad has stage 3 cancer between the bladder and prostate. He's been on Keytruda for about 5 months. His oncologist and urologist both agree that the Keytruda is working very well, but that's about all that they agree on. His urologist is basically saying that limitations in research and technology make removal of the bladder and prostate the only option to prevent possible life threatening complications. His oncologist keeps saying that the Keytruda is working, so why perform surgery? Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Like
Helpful
HugInterested in more discussions like this? Go to the Bladder Cancer Support Group.
Connect
Just the Keytruda. Will ask the oncologist about EVs.
Let us know the feedback.
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 Reactionmy thought.......define a time window for complete cancer elimination. using the keytruda. with oncology...get urology to weigh in on the time frame.......you exceed the time frame.....out they come+any other cancerous areas ...but you will probably still need something....as it sounds, the cancer is outside these two organs...best of luck!!
This is where ctdna comes in (signatera, northstar response). Complete cancer elimination is statistically unlikely when advanced but not impossible.
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 ReactionUpdate
The oncologist is still sold on the Pembro and bladder preservation. He always praises immunotherapy and is confident in the studies showing that it is effective in stopping the growth and spread. He ordered a PET-CT, if he likes the results he will pause the Pembro and monitor the situation on a regular basis.
Interesting that the oncologist does not include ctdna.
Might be time to get a third opinion. Since the cancer involves two organs, I would be concerned of the possibility of more spreading of the cancer when stopping the Keytruda. I agree with jaxfl. If a ctDNA test is done, that in itself may indicate that the treatment needs to continue.
The proactive thing to do would be the removal of the bladder and the prostate. With my cancer, there was not an option to try ro save my bladder. It was too invasive to take a chance. Hearing from a third set of eyes may help.
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
2 ReactionsAlso agree with using ctdna to guide decisions. My bladder cancer never showed that it has advanced to lymph nodes on cat scans. The upstaging to stage 3 was confirmed with ctdna and post surgery pathology. My surgeon said there were not enough cancer cells to show on a cat scan.