Grade 2 Astrocytoma

Hi all,

My mom has been diagnosed with a grade 2 atrocytoma.She completed 32 rounds of radiation. Six months after radiation, she had her first MRI last week. The MRI showed the tumor was stable(it was the same size as before), but the doc said that he is worried about the diffused tentacles.He hoped that the radiation would kill these tentacles, but it did not.He said that these tentacles might not harm or they might in future, and nothing can be done about it..not eevn chemotherapy.He said the tentacles have not damaged any of the brain nerves yet, but cant say they might in future and that will be critical.

Is chemotherapy a no option in this situation? The doc said in order to go for chemotherapy he needs to know where the tentacles are diffused and that is very difficult to determine..so he says chemotherapy is not a good option

Please advise..

Sonali

hi sonali,

 i have a grade 2 astrocytoma.  i am currently on temodar chemotherapy.  5 days on, 23 off.  i have had two resections.  one surgery in 2004, the other this last august.  is your mother's tumor inoperable?  i am assuming so.  there are a few clinical trials for temodar for grade 2 tumors that i have seen.  hope this info has helped.  

I'd push for the Temador. Me, oilgoastrocytoma 3 and Temador is really working great . 18 months  out and two clean scans now.

Best of luck

Chris 

On 4/8/2008 sonali wrote:

Hi all,

My mom has been diagnosed with a grade 2 atrocytoma.She completed 32 rounds of radiation. Six months after radiation, she had her first MRI last week. The MRI showed the tumor was stable(it was the same size as before), but the doc said that he is worried about the diffused tentacles.He hoped that the radiation would kill these tentacles, but it did not.He said that these tentacles might not harm or they might in future, and nothing can be done about it..not eevn chemotherapy.He said the tentacles have not damaged any of the brain nerves yet, but cant say they might in future and that will be critical.

Is chemotherapy a no option in this situation? The doc said in order to go for chemotherapy he needs to know where the tentacles are diffused and that is very difficult to determine..so he says chemotherapy is not a good option

Please advise..

Sonali

On 4/8/2008 sonali wrote:

Hi all,

My mom has been diagnosed with a grade 2 atrocytoma.She completed 32 rounds of radiation. Six months after radiation, she had her first MRI last week. The MRI showed the tumor was stable(it was the same size as before), but the doc said that he is worried about the diffused tentacles.He hoped that the radiation would kill these tentacles, but it did not.He said that these tentacles might not harm or they might in future, and nothing can be done about it..not eevn chemotherapy.He said the tentacles have not damaged any of the brain nerves yet, but cant say they might in future and that will be critical.

Is chemotherapy a no option in this situation? The doc said in order to go for chemotherapy he needs to know where the tentacles are diffused and that is very difficult to determine..so he says chemotherapy is not a good option

Please advise..

Sonali

My son was diagnosed with a grade 2 astrocytoma Feb/07. He had surgery and they removed 70% of the tumor. He went through 6 weeks of radiationa and 6 months of the temodar. He has since then had several MRI's and everything is in a stable condition now. He was getting his MRI's every 2 months and his doctor moved him to every 3 months and will take it from there. His girlfriend is now pregnant and he is going to be a first time dad. He is 23 years old. He also takes Keppra to prevent seizures. Seizures were the first sign that something was wrong and was how he ended up in the hospital to begin with. No one would ever know anything was wrong with him. He goes on with his same everyday life like he has no illness. He's positive about everything. His doctor said everything could remain stable for several years, could be 4 or maybe 10 before anything shows up again. Good luck as well.Hope this helps.

God Bless!