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Maintenance and proactive scenarios
Wonderful news
Stage 4 NSCLC Lung, Her 2 +
No evidence of activity after latest scan .
Plan is continue maintenance and scans.
Wonder if to be proactive, a lobectomy of original tumor site would be a good idea? I know stage 4 this is not standard.
Dr said if any activity noted would possibly do radiation .
Anyone have info on benefits of just continuing the maintenance ( chemo and immunotherapy every 3 weeks for 2 years) but also consider lobectomy or any other actions?
TYou
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Hi mil63,
Congratulations! That really is great news! Since everything is so good do you really want to continue with treatments? My husband had stage 4 lung cancer also. At one point due to almost dying from Keytruda and Chemotherapy side effects he stopped all treatments. The cancer doctor wasn't happy because he was losing the $25,000 per infusion for Keytruda. I don't know what Chemotherapy cost! The doctor actually got angry over my husband's decision. Needless to say, we changed cancer doctors. My husband lived for 14 more years without any treatment. He died at age 83 in 2024. I was so glad we had that time together. With the treatments we may not have had those years.
Analyze how the side effects are for you with the treatments you have had and research the ones that they want you to try. You are doing good now. Maybe you just want to give your body a little rest. Remember it's your decision. It's your body and your money.
Pray about it and ask for God's guidance. He knows what is best for you. After all, he made you and he can fix you! I'll say a prayer for you also.
I wish you the best!
PML
@mil63, it’s great to hear that treatment has been effective! Removing the original tumor site is referred to as local consolidative therapy (LCT). From my limited knowledge there have been studies that show benefits but not in all cases. It’s a hard decision, as undergoing a surgery of this type can come with complications and on going pain. Each cancer and patient are different and LCT can help extend life for some. From what I’ve read most doctors aren’t offering this as an option.
Has your husband’s doctor assessed him for LCT, or are they only talking about radiation as needed at this point?
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35060346/
Just radiating if it becomes active . But just continue the maintenance for now as not active. But I wonder if we should attack any possibility prior to new growth.
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1 Reaction@pml thank you for sharing your story . This is all so new, it’s good to get different perspectives. I’m glad you had that experience!