Multifocal Adenocarcinoma of the lung, continual recurrences

I'm so glad that you received relief! That's a biggy! Any chance that you could have Omicron, the present variant? It's extremely contagious. Were you told anything else?

No, the report just said that I was positive. But Omicron is considered by far the dominant variant. I read "The first signs tend to be congestion and other symptoms of an upper respiratory infection (sore throat, etc.)". You will recall how they said Delta was so much more contagious than earlier Covid and then that Omicron was far more contagious than Delta. I avoided all people and still caught it.

@akfishinmom1- You hit the nail on its head! The problem with treating Multifocal lung cancer is that there isn't enough KNOWN information known yet. To answer your question, with a question- "what would be used to zap the lesions if they aren't cancerous?" I suppose that "do no harm" has something to do with this too. Any treatment will cause some damage to your healthy lung tissue.

If I wasn't involved in a conversation that might answer questions that I had I would get a second opinion. You have the right to have your questions answered so that you understand them. Your biomarker test was to test if there are any variants in your cancer. Lung cancer has several and it's tested because certain treatments have been found to treat them differently. This is used after surgery. It's called immunotherapy.

Have you been told that you will have further treatment?

I had a follow up appointment a month after surgery with the oncologist and no treatment was prescribed. Other than a brief conversation about the biomarker test which is when she mentioned she talked to the surgeon about it, the remaining talk was about which stage I was. Very brief appointment. I did not get a postoperative follow up with my surgeon as he also works from a different state and was there at the time. Follow up was with the PA surgical assistant which was a little disappointing since I did have some questions specifically for him. So for now I guess it’s the wait and see approach. I have a 6 month CT scan in March and a appointment with the surgeon to go over it. I am considering a different oncologist as I don’t feel like they are very informative. I guess I just wonder why if you have a biomarker mutation they don’t treat with medication to reduce or get rid of other lesions that could possibly become cancerous and need surgery or radiation. I might be over thinking this but will definitely ask my new oncologist. I think your right that they don’t want to over treat too.

Hmm, I guess that I didn't explain myself very well. The reason that they just won't treat other lesions is that they might be healthy, just a simple cell change that will disappear or cause no harm. Doctor's just don't do that because trials and research have found them either unnecessary or harmful to the patient. Hospitals set up certain acceptable protocols for what can and can not be operated on based on the latest research. Doctors have to follow that.

I think that the biomarker test was done in case you needed it in the future. After 24+ years with my multifocal lung cancer, I'm still going strong with SBRT. I've never had immunotherapy.

Is this clearer for you?

I know. Omicron can be in the air! Rest, drink plenty of water, and if you aren't too ill, walk if the weather is good!

Omicron can last in places that Delta couldn't! WHen do you see your doctor next?

Good morning @akfishinmom1-Yes, it's what is used now for multifocal lung cancer if surgery isn't the best choice.

This procedure is sometimes called stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) or stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR). The procedure uses many precisely focused radiation beams to treat tumors. It's quick, as far as the number of radiating days and there are very few side effects. Fatigue is the biggest side effect that I have found. I've had it twice and it looks like I will have my third this year.

It's painless and you get to lie still for about an hour and dream! Do you have any concerns?

I was wondering if anyone with multifolcal lung cancer in this group has ever been offered targeted therapy to get rid of or reduce the remaining lesions they might have?

I believe they tested my genetics to see if I was a candidate for targeted chemo therapy and I wasn’t, but I do know someone that did very well with targeted chemo.

@jamineibs - Good morning. With multifocal adenocarcinoma surgery or targeted radiation - SBRT is the protocol. Chemo is usually preserved as life-extending after all other options have been used. It's the nature of our beast. Perhaps there will come a time when there is a test that can tell which lesions are likely to become cancerous and which are not.

We have some crazy cancer, right?