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Where is best place to go for second opinion for stage 4 pancreatic?
Pancreatic Cancer | Last Active: Nov 28, 2023 | Replies (50)Comment receiving replies
If I may: As a longtime copy editor and fact-checker, I urge you ***never*** to use Wikipedia -- never. Ever.
Anyone can enter anything -- literally (I have some appalling screenshots, which I'll share) -- and there is NO editorial process through which anyone trained or knowledgeable checks the material for accuracy. In addition, there is no editorial board to ensure that all articles are written for layperson consumption, so some are a real slog.
I googled for Mayo + ctDNA; didn't get a hit for Mayo -- which shares, for free, an ENORMOUS amount of accurate info -- but here are links from Anderson and Dana-Farber. Also, Healthline is a good source for dr.-generated content for laypersons (my state's official library led me there), as is Hopkins.
(@sofee2022, I think these will be of use. Also, to the best of my knowledge only your doctor can tell you whether to be concerned about a cyst on your pancreas. If you have one, then presumably your dr. did the diagnosis -- ? If you're asking bc someone you care about has one, then perhaps ask that person to be forthcoming.)
https://www.mdanderson.org/cancerwise/liquid-biopsies--understanding-ctdna-and-circulating-tumor-cells.h00-159463212.htmlhttps://blog.dana-farber.org/insight/2023/06/what-is-ctdna-and-do-i-need-mine-tested/Replies to "If I may: As a longtime copy editor and fact-checker, I urge you ***never*** to use..."
Does anyone know if genetic testing is done and no markers at all are found, if this kind of testing (ctDNA) has no value?
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Thanks for your critique re using Wikipedia as an information source. Though I too find Wikipedia posts occasionally somewhat inaccurate and/or incomplete, IMHO they are often helpful when read with a critical eye. Coincidentally, lately I began reading "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch, his personal story as an academic and pancreatic cancer patient who died just a few months following his diagnosis. This relatively young, tenured professor at Carnegie-Mellon was an advocate of using Wikipedia.
On another note, thank-you. Your comment caused me to go back and poke around a bit. While poking around I came across this informative article regarding ctDNA testing as a prognostic biomarker for managing resectable pancreatic cancer.
https://www.oaepublish.com/articles/2394-4722.2022.20
I begin the next phase of my neoadjuvant treatments tomorrow (3 weeks of radiotherapy with reduced dose chemotherapy) before my anticipated modified Whipple in January. Thanks again.