1. < Pancreatic Cancer

Radiation and chemo for pancreatic cancer: Is it effective?

Posted by bede @bede, Aug 11, 2022

I have stage 2 PC. They feel it is safer to do radiation and chemo, rather than surgery. Has anyone had radiation. Is it effective. Does it ruin other organs. I’m concerned about having radiation. I don’t want it.

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beachdog | @beachdog | Aug 12, 2022

Find out if your tumor is a good target for SBRT. This is a focused form of delivering radiation to a specific target rather than wide area dosing. It's very specialized and you might have to look for a facility that can treat you. The downside to SBRT is that you'll need a procedure to insert gold fiducials into the target area. The fiducials guide the SBRT beam. Good luck.

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1 reply
lfitz | @lfitz | Aug 15, 2022
In reply to @beachdog "Find out if your tumor is a good target for SBRT. This is a focused form..." + (show)
@beachdog

Find out if your tumor is a good target for SBRT. This is a focused form of delivering radiation to a specific target rather than wide area dosing. It's very specialized and you might have to look for a facility that can treat you. The downside to SBRT is that you'll need a procedure to insert gold fiducials into the target area. The fiducials guide the SBRT beam. Good luck.

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My husband had 4 months of Folfirinox, followed by 3 weeks of chemoradiation. The chemo drug was oral Xeloda (5 - FU) . He tolerated both much better than I expected. Mostly fatigue. Some nausea and diarrhea. He was hoping to have the Whipple surgery in June but do to a rising tumor marker ( even though his scans looked good) they sent him back to do another 2 months of chemo. This time they are doing the Gemcitibine/Abraxane regimen and he is not tolerating it well at all. He is just hopeful to have the surgery in September. I wouldn’t worry about the radiation. Chemo is much tougher. How old are you? I don’t understand why surgery is not an option. My husband is 65.

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1 reply
mikewdby | @mikewdby | Aug 16, 2022
In reply to @lfitz "My husband had 4 months of Folfirinox, followed by 3 weeks of chemoradiation. The chemo drug..." + (show)
@lfitz

My husband had 4 months of Folfirinox, followed by 3 weeks of chemoradiation. The chemo drug was oral Xeloda (5 - FU) . He tolerated both much better than I expected. Mostly fatigue. Some nausea and diarrhea. He was hoping to have the Whipple surgery in June but do to a rising tumor marker ( even though his scans looked good) they sent him back to do another 2 months of chemo. This time they are doing the Gemcitibine/Abraxane regimen and he is not tolerating it well at all. He is just hopeful to have the surgery in September. I wouldn’t worry about the radiation. Chemo is much tougher. How old are you? I don’t understand why surgery is not an option. My husband is 65.

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Is your husband at Mayo or another city \ hospital?

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1 reply
bede | @bede | Aug 17, 2022

I had a PET scan. It didn’t light up for pancreatic tumor. My pancreas head has atrophied and there is inflammation. My CA19-9 is 1300. And they are looking a spot on lungs. So unsure what is going on. All tx has been stopped

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stageivsurvivor | @stageivsurvivor | Aug 17, 2022

Here is a link to the PanCan.org website providing details on the various type of radiation treatments used in treating pancreatic cancer.
https://pancan.org/facing-pancreatic-cancer/treatment/treatment-types/radiation-therapy/

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2 replies
lfitz | @lfitz | Aug 17, 2022
In reply to @mikewdby "Is your husband at Mayo or another city \ hospital?" + (show)
@mikewdby

Is your husband at Mayo or another city \ hospital?

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We live in Kalispell, MT. He’s doing chemo here but did his radiation at Mayo in Rochester and hopes / plans to do the Whipple surgery at Mayo in Rochester.

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bede | @bede | Aug 18, 2022
In reply to @stageivsurvivor "Here is a link to the PanCan.org website providing details on the various type of radiation..." + (show)
@stageivsurvivor

Here is a link to the PanCan.org website providing details on the various type of radiation treatments used in treating pancreatic cancer.
https://pancan.org/facing-pancreatic-cancer/treatment/treatment-types/radiation-therapy/

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Thank you.

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Moderator
Colleen Young, Connect Director | @colleenyoung | Sep 15, 2022
In reply to @bede "I had a PET scan. It didn’t light up for pancreatic tumor. My pancreas head has..." + (show)
@bede

I had a PET scan. It didn’t light up for pancreatic tumor. My pancreas head has atrophied and there is inflammation. My CA19-9 is 1300. And they are looking a spot on lungs. So unsure what is going on. All tx has been stopped

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@bede, I wanted to check in to see how you are doing. Have you started treatment again? If yes, what treatment are you doing? How are you doing?

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1 reply
bede | @bede | Sep 19, 2022
In reply to @colleenyoung "@bede, I wanted to check in to see how you are doing. Have you started treatment..." + (show)
@colleenyoung

@bede, I wanted to check in to see how you are doing. Have you started treatment again? If yes, what treatment are you doing? How are you doing?

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No my oncologist dragging her feet. Spot on my lungs was a fungus. Now she thinks I have metastasis to liver, of course it’s growing. I am having a MRI Today. Maybe I’ll have a plan of treatment in another week.

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