We previously thought my mom was out of the woods when she had surgery to remove the cyst in her neck. But after a biopsy it looks like the cyst contains some cancerous cells, and (from what my dad tried to explain to me in Chinese) I think they are metastatic.
They are going to do radioiodine treatment. So I did a search on UpToDate:
A retrospective analysis of 444 patients treated with radioiodine for metastatic disease between 1953 and 1994 was limited to the results of whole body iodine scans and conventional radiographs [7]:
* 43 percent of the 295 patients with radioiodine uptake achieved negative studies (iodine scans and conventional radiographs)
* Negative studies were more likely in younger patients with differentiated tumors
* 96 percent of the patients achieving negative studies were given cumulative doses of 100 to 600 mCi (3.7 to 22 GBq)
* 7 percent of those achieving negative studies had a recurrence
* 10-year survival was 92 percent in patients achieving negative studies and 19 percent in those who did not.
So if my math is correct, my mom currently has a 10-year survival probability of about 50%.
That’s my report for tonight. I might write more on this later.
August 24, 2007 at 1:40 pm
I lost my Mother to breast cancer in 1986. She had a 1 year survival probability rate of 0% back twenty one years ago. She fought and lasted 9 months. The progress in cancer treatment has been remarkable in the past two decades; what once was a death sentence is now a probability. The only wisdom I can share is to make every moment count, stay positive and optimistic and thanks now to the internet, stay informed.