On long term dialysis, diagnosed with Stage 1/2 oesophageal cancer

Posted by asapienlessordinary @asapienlessordinary, Jan 9 12:03am

I have been on dialysis for 27 years now. During my workup for a kidney transplant, they found a polyp in the GE junction. A biopsy and a Contrast enhanced CT scan revealed a malignant tumour. A PET CT revealed this was early stage and not spread anywhere else. I have portal hypertension and a liver with severe fibrosis due to Hepatitis C which was treated after 12 years with the disease in 2017.

The doctors are considering 3 options:

1. Endoscopic removal - They are planning an Endoscopic Ultrasound to determine the feasibility of removing the tumour endoscopically.

2. Immunotherapy - They have asked the lab to check the biopsy sample for MMR which will let them know the chance of success of Immunotherapy.

3. Surgical removal - Last option as the surgery can be complicated with a lot of bleeding due to the liver issue. Liver decompensation is also a risk with this.

I was wondering if there was anyone here who had a similar problem and what they did and how did it turn out? Anyone on dialysis and a liver issue and oesophageal cancer?

Thanks so much!

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Esophageal Cancer Support Group.

asapienlessordinary | @asapienlessordinary | Apr 11 5:45am

I have been on dialysis for almost 28 years now. I was diagnosed with Stage 1-2 Esophageal cancer in early January and the tumour is in the GE Junction. It has not spread and is fairly small. They could not resect the tumour due to bleeding and I have now completed 15 of 28 radiation therapy.

My HER-2 came inconclusive and I was asked to get a FISH test done which came out positive. The report says Trastuzumab can target the tumour cells.

My question (I am meeting my oncologist on Tueaday - just want to be more prepared for the meeting) is can Trastuzumab be administered along with radiation? Or do they usually not do the two together?

Do they wait for radiation to complete and then consider using it if there's any cancer left?