On 1/26/2007 Joan l wrote:
I just discovered this board yesterday and am very impressed with your replies to questions. Are you an MD? Would like your opinion on my husband's situation. He is age 75, dx'd 11/06 with 12/06 Whipple with partial resection of the portal vein, tumor was adjacent to but able to be stripped away from the artery nearest the portal vein, path report showed negative nodes, uncinate process was involved, peri-neural and fat invasion and has started 5 FU 24/ 7 infusion 5 days/ week along with 25 days of radiation on 1/22/07. Will follow that with 6 months of Gemcitibine. History of 9/01 diagnosis of rectal cancer treated with neoadjuvant chemo and radiation same as current regimen followed by surgery, negative nodes. Colon cancer 2/03 treated with surgery and adjuvant chemo, 1 positive node. Also history of CAD with CABG 12/01. Current PC treatment does not seem aggressive enough and we are going for 2nd opinion next week; do you think past history and/ or age may be the reason or reasons for less aggressive treatment? We are in Chicago and surgeon was one advised on JH support board. Many thanks for your consideration.
Thanks for your comments. Your husband has quite a history with cancer! He is a survivor! The use of adjuvant Gemzar and 5FU is pretty standard in PC. So I think your husband is getting the standard of care in his situation. I'm not sure what treatment you had in mind. There are other Gemzar combos which have shown promise, but I'm not sure any have been proven to increase survival. His age and past medical history could be an issue in some of the more toxic combo's. Another option is clinical trials and of course a second opinion is always a good idea.
God bless your journey.