1. < Lung Cancer

Small Cell Lung Cancer: Let's connect

Posted by Merry, Alumni Mentor @merpreb, Jan 12, 2019

Most of the discussions about lung cancer has been about Non-small cell lung cancers. There are many sub-types of this that are included. But there is another type of lung cancer that needs to be discussed and that is Small Cell Lung Cancer. This aggressive form of lung cancer most commonly occurs in smokers. It usually starts in the breathing tubes (bronchi) and grows very quickly, creating large tumors and spreading (metastasizing) throughout the body.
Symptoms include bloody phlegm, cough, chest pain, and shortness of breath.
Treatment includes surgery (for small tumors) as well as chemotherapy, sometimes in combination with radiation therapy.
Lung cancers cells are sometimes classified by where they tend to grow.
There have been huge breakthroughs in lung cancer research of late.
Please join @margot69 and I in this new disussion.

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

B &PopKorhn | @popkorhn | Feb 11, 2020
In reply to @besswillis "My aunt has just been diagnosed with small cell lung cancer that has spread to her..." + (show)
@besswillis

My aunt has just been diagnosed with small cell lung cancer that has spread to her liver and bone. We would love to know the medicines you are speaking about in this 3 drug cocktail.

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So sorry to hear about your Aunt. My husband was diagnosed with a secondary liver cancer on December 18th, 2019 after a biopsy of his liver. A Pet Scan showed his primary tumor was in his lung and gratefully no involvement in his brain . The chemo along with Carboplatin and etoposide are what the standard 3 cocktails used.

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B &PopKorhn | @popkorhn | Feb 11, 2020
In reply to @merpreb "@popkorhn- Good morning. I think that the only thing that you can do now is to..." + (show)
@merpreb

@popkorhn- Good morning. I think that the only thing that you can do now is to make sure that all of your legal papers are in order. If you aren't sure what they are in your state I'm sure that a lawyer can let you know what you need. The second thing that you can plan depends on how Pop feels and whether he is in treatment. Otherwise, I would think that the world is wide open to you. Do what you want, when you want to. As difficult as it is to make future plans it's that easy to cancel plans if you need to. Being honest about what your hesitancy is for making plans is all about people being forgiving and understanding. How are you doing? How is Pop? How did he do with his second round?

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PopKorhn’s second round went extremely well. There has been little or no affect after his second round of Chemo and immunotherapy last week. He golfs every Tuesday, plays pickleball for and hour or two 4 days a week and usually gets in his 10,000 steps a day. So Far so good for a 74, almost 75 year old. He has another pet scan at Moffitt on the 28th and we meet with his small cell Thoracic specialist who is doing a clinical trial that he may be a candidate for. He is scheduled right now for two more rounds of chemo in March along with the two immunotherapy drugs. We were told that he would have the 4 Chemo treatments and possible two more depending on what his Feb 28th pet scan shows. The immunotherapy could be for life. Truly an unknown path, yet life is still good.

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1 reply
Merry, Alumni Mentor | @merpreb | Feb 9, 2020
In reply to @besswillis "It's very scary when someone tells you that you may at the most have 3 months..." + (show)
@besswillis

It's very scary when someone tells you that you may at the most have 3 months to live without treatment and a year with. And it's so hard to get anything done. We have fought to move up days and pre approve things with the insurance. It's scary.

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Good morning @besswillis. Welcome to Mayo Connect. I agree it is terrifying when you are given a set time that is left in your life. Is it possible to get a lawyer to help with insurance woes? I can't imagine having to rely on a corporation for such information and then have them hold it up due to red-tape. If this is a new cancer is it possible to get legal help?

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1 reply
Merry, Alumni Mentor | @merpreb | Feb 9, 2020
In reply to @popkorhn "My husband, PopKorhn, was diagnosed with stage 4 SCLC January 9th. This is such a scary..." + (show)
@popkorhn

My husband, PopKorhn, was diagnosed with stage 4 SCLC January 9th. This is such a scary fast moving cancer. He had his first round of Chemo and Immunotherapy series Without any side effects at all! His second round is next week, Jan 26,27, 28th . He goes every 3 weeks ,for 4 series ,then will be scanned to see if this treatment is working. Planning for the future is hard when we just do not know what the future will bring. B

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@popkorhn- Good morning. I think that the only thing that you can do now is to make sure that all of your legal papers are in order. If you aren't sure what they are in your state I'm sure that a lawyer can let you know what you need. The second thing that you can plan depends on how Pop feels and whether he is in treatment. Otherwise, I would think that the world is wide open to you. Do what you want, when you want to. As difficult as it is to make future plans it's that easy to cancel plans if you need to. Being honest about what your hesitancy is for making plans is all about people being forgiving and understanding. How are you doing? How is Pop? How did he do with his second round?

REPLY
1 reply
Moderator
Colleen Young, Connect Director | @colleenyoung | Feb 8, 2020
In reply to @besswillis "It's very scary when someone tells you that you may at the most have 3 months..." + (show)
@besswillis

It's very scary when someone tells you that you may at the most have 3 months to live without treatment and a year with. And it's so hard to get anything done. We have fought to move up days and pre approve things with the insurance. It's scary.

Jump to this post

Hi @besswillis and welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. Getting such news is hard to accept.
@popkorhn talks more about the chemo drugs her husband is receiving in this earlier post https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/small-cell-lung-cancer-1/?pg=8#comment-358804 I'm confident that she will return to share more about their experience with chemo and immunotherapy.

Bess, is this your aunt's first diagnosis or is this cancer that has returned? How is your aunt feeling? How are you doing?

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besswillis | @besswillis | Feb 7, 2020
In reply to @popkorhn "Margo, My husband was diagnosed with Small Cell cancer that has metastasized to his liver with..." + (show)
@popkorhn

Margo, My husband was diagnosed with Small Cell cancer that has metastasized to his liver with a clear Brain scan thus far. He started his first round of Chemo and immunotherapy therapy last week with no side effects at all. Praying that more trials will produce a cure, while hoping to keep his cancer at bay until a cure is found. Happy to share his 3 chemo drug/immuno cocktail info if you like.

Jump to this post

It's very scary when someone tells you that you may at the most have 3 months to live without treatment and a year with. And it's so hard to get anything done. We have fought to move up days and pre approve things with the insurance. It's scary.

REPLY
2 replies
besswillis | @besswillis | Feb 7, 2020
In reply to @popkorhn "Margo, my husband was just diagnosed with small cell lung cancer which has spread to his..." + (show)
@popkorhn

Margo, my husband was just diagnosed with small cell lung cancer which has spread to his liver and bladder. The diagnosis is poor, yet with new treatments, keeping it at bay and living with it is increasingly possible. They found his secondary tumor in the liver before Christmas and the primary lung mass on January 6th. Luckily we live in Tampa Florida and He decided to be treated at Moffitt by a small cell Thoracic specialist, Dr Alberto Chiappori who is doing a clinical trial For small cell endocrine Lung cancer study . He saw my husband and started him on a 3 cocktail Chemo and immunotherapy treatment immediately. Pop had his first treatment January 15th,16th and 17th. So far he has had NO side effects, yet fatigue often happens this second week.
We have been told that This type of cancer is very effective when treated with Chemo. I have posted the 3 drugs he is receiving, should you want to read that post as well. Happy to speak with you if you like.

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My aunt has just been diagnosed with small cell lung cancer that has spread to her liver and bone. We would love to know the medicines you are speaking about in this 3 drug cocktail.

REPLY
1 reply
B &PopKorhn | @popkorhn | Feb 1, 2020
In reply to @margot69 "Happy you have joined, lady. I am Stage IV now with nodes and spots on my..." + (show)
@margot69

Happy you have joined, lady. I am Stage IV now with nodes and spots on my liver. Brain MRI was clear, so far. If the doctors had listened to me for months, maybe this would have been caught sooner. I haven't even seen an Oncologist yet! Praying we can all beat it. Were you sick from the treatments and where were you treated? Since this is a Mayo discussion board, I assume there.

Jump to this post

My husband, PopKorhn, was diagnosed with stage 4 SCLC January 9th. This is such a scary fast moving cancer. He had his first round of Chemo and Immunotherapy series Without any side effects at all! His second round is next week, Jan 26,27, 28th . He goes every 3 weeks ,for 4 series ,then will be scanned to see if this treatment is working. Planning for the future is hard when we just do not know what the future will bring. B

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1 reply
B &PopKorhn | @popkorhn | Jan 25, 2020
In reply to @margot69 "Happy you have joined, lady. I am Stage IV now with nodes and spots on my..." + (show)
@margot69

Happy you have joined, lady. I am Stage IV now with nodes and spots on my liver. Brain MRI was clear, so far. If the doctors had listened to me for months, maybe this would have been caught sooner. I haven't even seen an Oncologist yet! Praying we can all beat it. Were you sick from the treatments and where were you treated? Since this is a Mayo discussion board, I assume there.

Jump to this post

Margo, My husband was diagnosed with Small Cell cancer that has metastasized to his liver with a clear Brain scan thus far. He started his first round of Chemo and immunotherapy therapy last week with no side effects at all. Praying that more trials will produce a cure, while hoping to keep his cancer at bay until a cure is found. Happy to share his 3 chemo drug/immuno cocktail info if you like.

REPLY
1 reply
Merry, Alumni Mentor | @merpreb | Jan 24, 2020
In reply to @popkorhn "I am good .we both play pickleball together 5 days a week. Hopefully this treatment will..." + (show)
@popkorhn

I am good .we both play pickleball together 5 days a week. Hopefully this treatment will work for him. So far so good. We just want another option, should this treatment not be successful to hold this aggressive cancer at bay. Hopefully all will go well .

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@popkorhn- I'm with you all the way on this. Please give Pop my greetings and my best.

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