CancerCompass message board discussion started by nicole13 on 2/15/2008 http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,20989,0.htm Fri, 05 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT Fri, 05 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://backend.userland.com/rss RSS.NET: http://www.rssdotnet.com/ HelloI am new to this site and have learned a great deal from every brave soul on here. My father has SCC hypopharangeal stage III no lymph node involvement and it did not spread outside his throat. It is a large mass that did spread around the surrounding areas of skin and is very close to his spine. He has had cancer 3 times before once Non Hodgkins Lymphoma in his throat and then back again 5 yrs later in his stomach. then it was about 4 yrs later and he had prostate cancer. All are in remission. He had radiation the first time in his throat and he now had 7 weeks of IMRT radiation for this SCC cancer with erbitux. He tried cisplatin but only handled the first 3 week dose which landed him in the hospital for the 3 weeks. When he got out they switched him to Erbitux and started the radiation. He is done with treatment now for 2 months and he had to go in for a feeding tube. He has to have a J tube since he has no stomach from his previous cancer. In order to get the J tube they had to do a Tracheotomy cause his airway was to small to put a breathing tube down. When the dr did the trach he took a biopsy of the dead tissue left all around his throat and it came back positive for SCC. What I am trying to find out is if the biopsy can come back positive with the cancer still being dead and not live. I asked so many questions that I did get the dr to say it could be dead necrosis cancer that is showing on the biopsy and he wants to wait 2 weeks to see what kind of cells grow, good or if not then cancer ones. Did anyone out there go through this. I know I pulled this one out of a hat and dragged the response I wanted out of the Dr. Just to hear him say we wont know for 2 weeks but honestly if the biopsy is positive I feel like it is still there and live. His throat is still not healed after treatment and since he has scar tissue from the first radiation he now has a tone of it along with swelling from radiation. Is it at all possible that it was to soon to tell. I am not sure I even ever heard of a biopsy after treatment. i remember reading that it can aggrivate the cancer and cause it to become more aggressive.   Thank you for you help in advance. I know I wrote alot but it is my first time and I am very upset as my dad is sitting in an ICU unit. If anyone has any questions for me please feel free. I have dedicated my life to this tumor and type of cancer.Nicole    nicole13 Fri, 15 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT Hi Nicole,Welcome! So sorry to  hear about your Dad's diagnosis. He sounds like a tough fighter though. When I was diagnosed 2+ years ago for Stage IV SCC to the right tonsil I had 4 lymph nodes show up as necrotic on a CT scan and was told that they were cancerous. The subsequent PET/CT didn't light up for these nodes so my rad onc and med onc thought they might be "dead cancer". It was put before a tumor board and their determination was that it should be treated anyway. I guess since I was in good shape and able to withstand whatever they were going to throw at me they decided to err on the side of caution. I'm glad they did. It may be the same in your Dad's case. They may take his overall health into consideration if the necrotic tissue shows no active cancer and prescribe accordingly.Good luck!Joe  Defjoeb Wed, 20 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT Thank you for your response. I am so happy to hear that you are doing well. I love to hear about anyone beating this thing. Thank you for shedding some light on this topic, I now know a bit more of what I am dealing with with these results. I wish you all the best.Nicole nicole13 Wed, 20 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT