On 4/15/2008 Bayla wrote:
Does anyone have any experience with pinpoint radiation for bile duct tumors? What is its effectiveness in prolonging life? What are the side effects? My sister has a pretty severe klatskins and is not really a candidate for chemo. Thanks for your listening eyes.
Hello Bayla,
I read the reponse from Iris, she is correct in what she said, Chemo and Radiation treatments are not the best approach to handling this type of cancer...this cancer usually can not be controlled without surgery.
I'm assuming when you say pin-point radiation, you mean something like 3D/Conformal Radiation where the radiation beam moves in a circular pattern stopping in different spots to deliver the radiation treatment and/or another type of radiation treatment called CyberKnife, where a robotic arm moves in different positions and targets the inserted gold seed in or next to the tumor.
If you recall in my past messages I mentioned my wife had surgery for a Klatskin Tumor, it was in the extrahepatic bile duct (at the beginning of the biliary tree or the Y area). She had surgery and they believed at the time they removed 100% in the cancer, that was in 2003. Well in 2007 a CTscan showed a mass in one more lympy node...only one lymph node was involued and it was only 3.0cm.
My wife went on a very low dose of oral chemo. But the life saying treatment was the 25 treatments of 3D/Conformal Radiation plus 5 treatments of the CyberKnife Treatments. In her case...a pin-pointed radiation procedure saved her. But remember, if they couldn't do surgery in 2003, I would be writing this message to you in 2008.
I am very sorry to hear what your sister and you are going through, my prayers are with you both.
Leonard from Alamo, California