1. < Pancreatic Cancer

Bone (Skeletal) Metastases

Posted by mayaranardo @mayaranardo, Apr 12, 2023

At the end of January my mother was diagnosed with ductal adenocarcinoma in the head of the pancreas measuring no more than 3 cm. All examinations showed that there was no evidence of metastasis. However, the CA19-9 was very high, around 19 thousand. Which meant that she couldn't go into surgery. She is now on her third Folfirinox infusion.
As a protocol, they just performed new imaging tests and found bone metastasis (multiple lesions) and a small 0.5 cm nodule in the liver.
While the damage to the pancreas has gone down a bit and the blood tumor markers have also started to go down, only CA19-9 remains the same.
I wonder if anyone around here has had any experience with bone metastases and if they could point out which treatments we should look into.

My sisters and I are very scared and almost without hope that she can win this battle.

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gardenlady1116 | @gardenlady1116 | Apr 13, 2023

Thank you for sharing your very difficult story. Your mom is lucky to have you by her side.

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1 reply
mayaranardo | @mayaranardo | Apr 20, 2023
In reply to @gardenlady1116 "Thank you for sharing your very difficult story. Your mom is lucky to have you by..." + (show)
@gardenlady1116

Thank you for sharing your very difficult story. Your mom is lucky to have you by her side.

Jump to this post

I appreciate that!

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mayaranardo | @mayaranardo | Apr 20, 2023

Updates about my mom:
We went to another doctor to get a second opinion on her case and it turned out that her diagnosis, now, is the opposite of what we were given when I made this first post.
My mother actually has "pseudoprogression". Have you ever heard of pseudoprogression? From what I've been researching, only 15% of cancer patients have cases of pseudoprogression, which is why the correct diagnosis is very difficult, which can lead half of patients to abandon standard treatment and go to palliative care.

In my mother's case, the CA-A 19 marker was always high, around 19,000, however, none of the imaging exams showed lesions in other organs. As soon as she started the chemotherapy cycles, lesions appeared on her spine. The doctor explained to us that they knew that the pancreas tumor cells had migrated, but they didn't know where, so, with the infusion, the lesions appeared in the spine in response to the treatment, like pseudoprogression.

According to this same doctor, to assess cases like this, it is essential to assess the clinical status of the patient and my mother is better now than before starting the first infusion. The pain has subsided!!

So, I share our story to encourage everyone to always seek second opinions! Don't give up on the treatment!

REPLY
1 reply
jenray | @jenray | Apr 20, 2023
In reply to @mayaranardo "Updates about my mom: We went to another doctor to get a second opinion on her..." + (show)
@mayaranardo

Updates about my mom:
We went to another doctor to get a second opinion on her case and it turned out that her diagnosis, now, is the opposite of what we were given when I made this first post.
My mother actually has "pseudoprogression". Have you ever heard of pseudoprogression? From what I've been researching, only 15% of cancer patients have cases of pseudoprogression, which is why the correct diagnosis is very difficult, which can lead half of patients to abandon standard treatment and go to palliative care.

In my mother's case, the CA-A 19 marker was always high, around 19,000, however, none of the imaging exams showed lesions in other organs. As soon as she started the chemotherapy cycles, lesions appeared on her spine. The doctor explained to us that they knew that the pancreas tumor cells had migrated, but they didn't know where, so, with the infusion, the lesions appeared in the spine in response to the treatment, like pseudoprogression.

According to this same doctor, to assess cases like this, it is essential to assess the clinical status of the patient and my mother is better now than before starting the first infusion. The pain has subsided!!

So, I share our story to encourage everyone to always seek second opinions! Don't give up on the treatment!

Jump to this post

Thank you for sharing this. My aunt is getting her biopsy today. I'm not sure what we've going to be facing, but I really find comfort in understanding the different scenarios that might arise.

I am hoping the treatment for your mom works perfectly. I hope her pain continues to subside.

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