1. < Gynecologic Cancers
Profile picture for ffr

Post-treatment follow up for clear cell endometrial cancer

Posted by ffr @ffr, Mar 16 12:44pm

Just wondering how your oncologists are monitoring you for recurrence of an aggressive cancer . I am two+ years post treatment with surgery, chemo, radiation & brachytherapy. I had metastasis to local & distant lymph nodes during chemo so I’m deemed chemo resistant.
-How often do you see your oncologist?
-Do you get CT scans & if so how often?
Is there concern for radiation overload?
-Is anybody using liquid biopsies? A blood test seems like a great way to monitor for cancer cells but my oncologist is not a fan.
I’m always worried about recurrence, so your experiences might be helpful.

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Gynecologic Cancers Support Group.

Profile picture for Denise
Denise | @denisestlouie | May 14 2:09pm
In reply to @ffr "Hi Helen. I appreciate your information. I have been getting bloodwork, CT scans, and internal exams..." + (show)
Profile picture for ffr @ffr

Hi Helen. I appreciate your information.

I have been getting bloodwork, CT scans, and internal exams every 3 months. My doctor wanted me to go to 6 months and I agreed to 4 months. However, at my recent appointment I agreed to 6 months moving forward because of concerns for the repeated radiation exposure.

The reason I asked about liquid biopsies is because I thought that looking for tumor markers between scans - or instead of scans - might be a reasonable and healthier way of monitoring. Thus far, my oncologist has not been on board and I wanted to glean some more information before approaching the topic with him again.

Jump to this post

My oncologist feels the same way. Until there is more evidence that the blood test really work and there is a protocol to treat cancer that is not detectable he feels the risk of false positives is to great and worrisome.

Denise

REPLY
Profile picture for cookercooker
cookercooker | @cookercooker | Jul 4 10:25am

I just read this post, so apologies for responding so late. As to your question of radiation overload from CT scans, I would say no.
I reached my limit for radiation when treated for anal cancer 13 years ago. I now have aggressive serous cell endometrial cancer, and do not qualify for more radiation, just systemic treatment. I am participating in a clinical study and receive CT scans on a regular 6-week basis. Have just had my 4th scan yesterday. Now, this is after I had CT scans while on a chemo regime that involved paclitaxil and carboplatin, which did nothing. So, I have had numerous CT scans since the inception of my endometrial cancer and no one seems to concerned about radiation overload.
Hope this helps ease your mind.

REPLY
View MoreView Less
Please sign in or register to post a reply.