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ovarian cancer recurrence

Dear Dr. Goodman:
You may not remember me: I saw you on October 22, 1998 when I was first diagnosed with stage III ovarian cancer. I sought your opinion while undergoing treatment in my home country (in South America). Luckily, I survived and have been well for over 10 years. This past fall (October 20th), they operated what seemed to be a bening liver cyst only to discover that it was a recurrence of my previous ovarian cancer. My oncologist thought it to be quite unusual that it would recurr in that place -- while there is no evidence of disease anywhere else in my abdomen. Surgery was successful except for a 2-3 centimeter portion of the tumour which they could not remove due to it being attached to my hepatic vein. I started chemotherapy on December 10. They're going to give me 6 cycles of the same drugs I had 10 years ago - Taxol + Carboplatin, even though they tell me that there is a risk of one of those two drugs (or both?) producing an allergic reaction. I have tolerated it well so far (2 cycles). I would like to know if this is what you would do faced with a recurrence (i.e. give me more of the same standard treatment?) and whether there is anything available in case it doesn't work this time around. Thanks!
5 Responses
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242604 tn?1328121225
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Hi There,
thank you so much for your follow up. It sounds like you are getting good care. I completely agree with your doctor's choice of chemotherapy.

My only additional comment would be: if there is no other sign of the cancer, I would strongly encourage you to see a liver surgeon to try to remove the rest of this cancer. Even with good chemotherapy, nothing replaces complete surgical resection.

It would be important to be very sure that there is no other sign of the cancer. a PET CT scan may be appropriate.

please keep in touch
best wishes
Helpful - 2
242604 tn?1328121225
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Hi there
It sounds like you are getting perfect care
please keep in touch
Helpful - 1
Avatar universal
I have been dx with ovarian ca 3C 4-06. Tx with IP Cisplat/ Taxol 6 round immedite Doxil 10 months then Topetecan and Avastin until sept Ca125 as low as 44 now over 800. Had debulking surgery then second surgery 11-06 for two lymph nodes that showed up in PET Scan. CT and other exams show no other evidence of disease 13 bx neg on abd scar tissue. OC Teststing showed Gemzar to be effective. Since Nov doing every week for two weeks one off CA125 rising quickly from 200 to over 800 now. Feel good except for anxiety over numbers. Doc wanting to add Cisplat with Gemzar and Avastin. I am 45 years old and pretty active, tolerating chemo well with no remission. What is your opionion on what would be good course of ts. Especially since Ocno Testing showed evidence of working with Gemzar and numbers have rapidly increased. My initial level was 1221 in April 06. No other evidence of disease per CT or Pet please help Sherie in Oregon
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Dear Dr. Goodman,

Thank you so much for your response! It's so generous of you to participate in this forum, I deeply appreciate the time you devote to responding our questions.

To answer your queries: 1) The doctor who operated me in October is a liver specialist and oncology surgeon. He said that he tried resecting as much of the liver cyst as possible (90%) without undergoing a formal liver resection. He did not, however, remove the entire cyst wall - leaving a 2-3 cmof cyst wall near the hepatic veins because he did not want to injure those veins.

2) As for additional evidence of cancer, they did a Thorax Computed Tomogram a month after surgery and it shows no obvious residual disease in the abdomen, an interval increase in a lymph node in the right diaphragmatic area (which the doctor thinks may be post-surgical) and a few (3-4) tiny nodules in my left lung.

Hope this information helps you form a clearer image of my present situation. Thanks again!!

Ana Maria
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Dear Dr. Goodman,

Thank you so much for your response! It's so generous of you to participate in this forum, I deeply appreciate the time you devote to responding our questions.

To answer your queries: 1) The doctor who operated me in October is a liver specialist and oncology surgeon. He said that he tried resecting as much of the liver cyst as possible (90%) without undergoing a formal liver resection. He did not, however, remove the entire cyst wall - leaving a 2-3 cmof cyst wall near the hepatic veins because he did not want to injure those veins.

2) As for additional evidence of cancer, they did a Thorax Computed Tomogram a month after surgery and it shows no obvious residual disease in the abdomen, an interval increase in a lymph node in the right diaphragmatic area (which the doctor thinks may be post-surgical) and a few (3-4) tiny nodules in my left lung.

Hope this information helps you form a clearer image of my present situation. Thanks again!!

Ana Maria
Helpful - 0

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