is There Any Hope?

My husband has Stage #4 metastatic cancer of the larynx. It has just come back in the lung. He starts very agressive chemotherapy next week but has been told it is "palliative", incurable. We are willing to go anywhere, try anything. I have found no clinical trials that he qualifies for. What can we expect from this three drug chemo protocol? How serious will the side effects be? Might not the treatment be worse than the disease? This is a very dark and frightening road. Worried Wife

Hi Patricia. I had cancer of the larynx. I was diagnosed and treated 4 yrs. ago. I was treated at Beth Israel Hospital in NYC (with radiation and chemo). My doctor is the best head/neck doctor. He's the chairman of Radiation Oncology at Beth Israel. He also worked at Sloan- Kettering (best cancer hospital). Perhaps he could refer you to someone. His name is Dr. Louis Harrison and his number is 212-844-8089. His assistant's name is Louise. I was also treated by Dr. Bruce Culliney (Medical Oncology Hematology) at Beth Israel. His # is 212-844-8287. His nurse is Daisy, 212-844-8725. Here's the Physician Referral Service # at Sloan-Kettering - 1-800-525-2225 Hope I have helped a little. -Michele

Dear Michele, Thank you so much for your message. Unfortunately, this is a recurrance of the cancer of the larynx he was diagnosed with three years ago and it is now in his lungs and there are "active cancer cells" in two other areas that are lighting up on the PET scan. He did have excellent treatment at Dana Farber in Boston with the original diagnosis. Now all they can offer is very aggressive chemotherapy or so we've been told. I guess I am looking for anything new. What stage was your cancer if you don't mind my asking? His was originally Stage #2 but now it's Stage #4. I am very familiar with Sloan as I lived in New York for 30 years. I hope you never have to deal with what we are dealing with--the cancer coming back. Best, Patricia

 

On 9/12/2006 Worried Wife wrote:

My husband has Stage #4 metastatic cancer of the larynx. It has just come back in the lung. He starts very agressive chemotherapy next week but has been told it is "palliative", incurable. We are willing to go anywhere, try anything. I have found no clinical trials that he qualifies for. What can we expect from this three drug chemo protocol? How serious will the side effects be? Might not the treatment be worse than the disease? This is a very dark and frightening road. Worried Wife

 

IF you are still on the board, just wondering how your husband is doing.  My husband has metasatic head and neck of unknown origin and they are treating him with chemo only.  He goes for scans on Wednesday to see how things are progressing.  We have been told his cancer is "treatable" but not curable.  Whatever that means...

Hope things have improved for your husband and he is back in remission.  Nancy