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Has anyone had LITT for brain necrosis?
Lung Cancer | Last Active: Mar 23 12:39pm | Replies (11)Comment receiving replies
It is so nice to hear from you Matthew, @flusshund. I hope you are feeling all of the Connect love coming your way. I'm glad that you're recovering and are looking toward your next steps, with the help of MD Anderson. Thanks for adding your update, wishing you continued healing. No rush to respond, healing is most important, but did the tumors appear like necrosis on your brain MRI, or were they super sneaky and not showing at all?
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Hi Lisa,
The brain MRI indicated extensive necrosis. Since ctDNA showed the presence of cancer, the surgeon guessed that it was hiding in the necrosis. So, yes, the tumors looked like necrosis. I had 10 rounds of low level radiation to slow down the remaining tumors.
After the surgery, a PET scan showed no cancer anywhere else in my body and a Guardant 360 test showed that I still only had the EGFR mutation. So my oncologists agreed that we should start by letting my brain recover from the radiation and then increasing the Tagrisso dosage to 160 mg/day and see how my body tolerates that level. I was tolerating the 80 mg/day pretty well, so I'm not too concerned.
Oh, and I've lost a lot of hair since the radiation. I don't have a customer facing job when I'm working, so it doesn't matter.
The adventure continues!