Answered Questions

I am sorry to hear that you are not feeling well, with weight loss and headaches. While it is possible that it is cancer, a number of other possibilities exist, and the best thi

‍Importantly, receiving chemotherapy ahead of surgery may make the tumor smaller and easier to remove, and as has been reviewed in the New York Times, this NEJM demonstrates 16 rectal cancer p....

I think, given the micropapillary features and your young age, it is also important that your doctors send your tumor for comprehensive genetic analysis (next gen sequencing) including MSI testin...

...we recommend contacting your husband's doctor(s) to make sure they are aware of the jaundice. If it hasn't been checked in several days, a blood test can help know how serious the situation i....

I think you are on to something and encourage you to advocate for your dad! I looked up the recommendations for Lung-RADS assessment on Up to Date (https://www.uptodate.com/contents/ima...

Given your situation, I would recommend seeing 3 doctors to plan the best approach: a surgeon (which you have scheduled already), a breast oncologist, and a radiation oncologist. If all 3 agree ini...

I can certainly tell you what the literature says. Tidvak is the name for the medicine: Tisotumab vedotin, made up of an antibody conjugated to a chemotherapy so that it targets a protein on the tu...

On the bright side, the chance of getting cured from Stage 2 Cervical Cancer is more than 50% (around 60%) with chemotherapy and radiation - not an easy path, but one you can tolerate. In addition....

...it is more likely to be related to as many other causes (a virus, etc.) as cancer recurrence. However, I see the 'early' scan as a positive thing - it sounds like your oncologist is being proact...

Around 20% of pancreatic cancers are in the normal range for CA-19-9 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5351346/) with 1/2 of those patients being Le negative, meaning the body can't manu..

...the sleepiness and fatigue can definitely have multiple possible causes, including the radiation, the anti-seizure medicines, and his primary situation (post-surgery). I agree with you that he s...

n addition, I would recommend requesting from the doctor that the tumor (past biopsy or surgical sample) has Next Gen Sequencing (genetic analysis) that can find weaknesses to be targeted. One of ...

Good to hear it is small and can be ablated with radiotherapy. Given that it came back once, I would recommend requesting your original tumor (biopsy or surgery sample) have genetic analysis with N...

Hair follicles are sensitive to radiation (more than skin). Depending on the location of the tumor, and dose of radiation, I think this would be expected. Have you considered any of the hair transp...

Yes! As an oncologist, I have had several patients who were young and diagnosed with metastatic signet ring gastric cancer. One had a HER2 mutation and is doing well today with medicines that are tr..

...a robust response to the therapy she has received. However, I think it is important to point out that there is still a "Stable suspicious 0.8 cm lymph node along the third intercostal left inte...

The medical care in Boston is excellent, and there are 3 main hospitals to consider: Mass GeneralBrighams & Womens (connected with Dana Farber), and Beth-Israel (BIDMC)....

You should consider getting in touch with a pediatric survivor's clinic - they are accustomed to these sorts of questions and can guide you about what is expected, and what may need further investi...

For example, combinations of CDK4/6 inhibitors (like palbociclib, ribociclib, or abemaciclib) are now combined with hormone blockade in breast cancer patients and work better together. Although doc...

Sorry to hear about your situation. Bevacizumab has more of a proven record than immunotherapies, but I would seek to do both, in combination if possible. I see trials like this one: https://...