1. < Pancreatic Cancer

Chemo stopped working. Going to do radiation

Posted by carol1951 @carol1951, Feb 21, 2023

Tumor suddenly jumped to 519 and had been 74 for at least 2 months during 7 mos of chemo. Husband is 84 He will do 5 rounds of high dose radiation now. At beginning he was locally advanced 2A 2T and so far had not spread. Chemo shrunk it from 3 cm to 2 cm. But now I am worried of his survival.

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gardenlady1116 | @gardenlady1116 | Feb 22, 2023

Thank you for sharing your story. Hoping for ongoing success for you in your treatment

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marcia | @marciak9 | Feb 23, 2023

I’ve been through 3 months of chemo. My marker is 23 and my tumor is shrinking. My oncologist thought I could go to surgery but Mayo surgeon says I need three more months of chemo and then 3 to 5 weeks of radiation. He did say tumor can become resistant to the chemo so that’s probably why they moved ahead to radiation.

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2 replies
mayoconnectuser1 | @mayoconnectuser1 | Feb 24, 2023
In reply to @marciak9 "I’ve been through 3 months of chemo. My marker is 23 and my tumor is shrinking...." + (show)
@marciak9

I’ve been through 3 months of chemo. My marker is 23 and my tumor is shrinking. My oncologist thought I could go to surgery but Mayo surgeon says I need three more months of chemo and then 3 to 5 weeks of radiation. He did say tumor can become resistant to the chemo so that’s probably why they moved ahead to radiation.

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My understanding is that the neoadjuvant approach - 12 folfirinox cycles (CHT), followed by chemo enhanced radiation (CRT) is usually the preferred approach - with scans between each sets (4 cycles=8 weeks) of chemo, then CRT, then a month off prior to surgery.

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1 reply
marcia | @marciak9 | Feb 24, 2023
In reply to @mayoconnectuser1 "My understanding is that the neoadjuvant approach - 12 folfirinox cycles (CHT), followed by chemo enhanced..." + (show)
@mayoconnectuser1

My understanding is that the neoadjuvant approach - 12 folfirinox cycles (CHT), followed by chemo enhanced radiation (CRT) is usually the preferred approach - with scans between each sets (4 cycles=8 weeks) of chemo, then CRT, then a month off prior to surgery.

Jump to this post

That’s exactly what the surgeon said. I’m just sad because my oncologist thought he’d do surgery now. She was so excited that the chemo was working.

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1 reply
mayoconnectuser1 | @mayoconnectuser1 | Feb 24, 2023
In reply to @marciak9 "That’s exactly what the surgeon said. I’m just sad because my oncologist thought he’d do surgery..." + (show)
@marciak9

That’s exactly what the surgeon said. I’m just sad because my oncologist thought he’d do surgery now. She was so excited that the chemo was working.

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I believe there is another consideration - that pancreatic tumors are known to spin off malignant cells to other areas - and more chemo will hopefully kill off those cells as well as the main tumor, itself.

That your oncologist believed surgery appropriate part way through is concerning, but I don't know enough to comment further.

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mamarina | @mamarina | Feb 24, 2023
In reply to @marciak9 "I’ve been through 3 months of chemo. My marker is 23 and my tumor is shrinking...." + (show)
@marciak9

I’ve been through 3 months of chemo. My marker is 23 and my tumor is shrinking. My oncologist thought I could go to surgery but Mayo surgeon says I need three more months of chemo and then 3 to 5 weeks of radiation. He did say tumor can become resistant to the chemo so that’s probably why they moved ahead to radiation.

Jump to this post

So they will do surgery after radiation. Thats interesting

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1 reply
mayoconnectuser1 | @mayoconnectuser1 | Feb 25, 2023
In reply to @mamarina "So they will do surgery after radiation. Thats interesting" + (show)
@mamarina

So they will do surgery after radiation. Thats interesting

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Mamarina,

Yes, Whipple following CHT and CRT is neoadjuvant approach and is the normal process in many cases - certainly not all, but this is common.

Lots of material available for your study.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/medical-professionals/digestive-diseases/news/3-factors-associated-with-improved-outcomes-for-individuals-with-pancreatic-ductal-adenocarcinoma/mac-20463202
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34724125/

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mamarina | @mamarina | Feb 25, 2023

I was told there was a small window (a few weeks)after radiation because it causes a lot of scar tissue .

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Moderator
Colleen Young, Connect Director | @colleenyoung | Feb 25, 2023

@carol1951, when does radiation start?

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carol1951 | @carol1951 | Feb 25, 2023

He start this past Wednesday. 5 every other day treatments of stereotactic high dose then wait three weeks and get a new scan. Then we meet with doctors again and go over everything. He is 84 yrs old. The day afterward he is very tired and weak. One leg has started really giving so he is now on a walker. I, myself, am disabled with a spinal cord injury and aortic valve issues. Has been rough on us

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