Chemo Only after Surgery (No Radiation)

My mom had surgery in August and her tumor was removed and she is recovering well.  She is 68.  She is about to start chemo next week and she met with radiogy oncologist to discuss whether she wanted to do the radiation in addition to chemo.  She has no problem with doing the chemo, but is petrified of the radiation and does not want to do it.  Right now, we are going to go with her wishes of not doing the radiation, but I am just trying to do my own research to see whether adding the radiation will help her out in the long run.  Her surgery went well and there is no spread. She had the cancer on her tail, so her tail and body were removed, along with the sleen and a small part of the colon.  Her lymph nodes were good and all surrounding tissue came back clean.  She is just not comfortable with the side effects of the radiation.  She has an extremely low tolerance for pain.  Anyone opt to do just chemo after distal pancreatectomy? 

Hi Marie,

Congratulations to your Mom in being one of the lucky few able to have Whipple surgery and the possibility of a cure.  I'm sure that the oncologist has told your Mom that radiation and chemo often go together and one is a booster for the other.  Radiation is the standard of care for treatment after Whipple surgery in the United States.  This cancer is so insidious that your Mom really ought to do all she can to prevent a recurrence.  The reason behind doing adjuvant radiation and chemo is to kill any stray cells that might not have been gotten during surgery or any micro-metastases that were too small to be seen.  There are many kinds of medications that are available to help offset the side effects of the radiation and chemo.  Some people never have much trouble with either one; my husband didn't have much trouble, and he was 76 years old when he had treatment.  He is still alive today.

She would be wise to give herself all the protection that is available.  Good luck and Godspeed. 

Joan L

Thank you Joan.  I forgot to say that my mom had the distal pancreatectomy, not the whipple.  I assume that treatments are similar post surgery.  I am trying to gather up as much info for her.  She has a few weeks to decide (or change her mind) about the radiation.  That is great that your husband is well!

 Maria W

My 70-year-old husband just finished his chemo/radiation.  He started with chemo only (Gemzar) once a week for three weeks, a week off, then he had a 5-FU pump he wore for 5 days a week and oxaliplatin in the oncologist's office once a week.  He had radiation at the same time 5 days a week for five weeks.  He just finished last week.  He had no problems at all with the radiation.  That was the easy part.  They have you come in for "tattoos" to mark the areas of radiation (tiny little dots) and then they fit you for a device so that you remain in the same position.  The radiation itself takes about 10 minutes and there is no pain.  It takes longer to get undressed and dressed than for the treatment.  The 5-FU chemo was difficult for him.  Extreme fatigue and diarrhea and weight loss.  Thank goodness it's over.  But this is the protocol now used to prevent recurrence.  Nancy

 

Hi, I am younger than your Mom (I'm 43), but I too had distal surgery and I followed with chemotherapy (6 months) Gemzar + Cisplatin. I also opted for the radiotherapy option and did 6 weeks of daily chemo-radiotherapy (5-FU). I didn't find it at all painful. I was exhausted by the end but that's quite normal. I did have some mild gastritis in the last week which cleared up within 2 weeks with medication. That was nearly 18 months ago now & I am continuing to do well with clear scans. If your Mom is doing so well, she really should consider the radiotherapy. For me, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be and with PC being so aggressive, it really is a good idea to attack it with all the fire power in our armoury! I wish her luck in her decision

Hi, My Father has PC in the tail of his Pancreas. It seems that you see that less often and when doing research it seems to be difficult to find protocols for such. You said that you had surgery for your distal pancreas. His has metasisized one met to the liver that they could see, therefore they said no to him being a candidate for surgery. I was just wondering if given that you had PC in what sounds like the tail if you had more info on treatment for it in that area as it seems to be the less typical type. Also could you tell me where you went for treatment? Thank you.