Has anyone had experience with this procedure?
There was NED on my CT scans from March of '08 until March of '09,when a swelling of a lymph node was shown in the right hilar region of my right lung. Dr. says this swelling is due to a developing tumor.
I am currantly on TARCEVA 150 mg, & the tumor/swelling is stable in a CT scan taken 6-07-'10.
On my last visit with my Onc. i asked about cyber knife, & he said that now may be the time to do this since the tumor is small.
I would like to hear from anyone who has had this procedure.
I have a consultation sched. with the Dr. that will do this,if i decide to have it, but am seeking info from others.
Thank's,
DaveC

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May 25th, noticed a streak of blood in sputum. I'd had a persistant productive cough for a few weeks. Made an appt. with my primary care physician for June 11th.
JUNE 11th: Chest x-ray revealed a"suspicious" nodule found on R lung.
JUNE 12th: CT SCAN. Tumor ID'd on uppper portion of R lung.
JUNE 14th: PT SCAN
JUNE 15th: Pulminory tests
JUNE 18th: Bronchoscopy.Everything O.K.
JUNE 21st: MRI,brain Scan.Nothing found
JULY 9th: Needle Biopsy
JULY 18th:Met with Oncologist.Tumor,3CM in size, determined to be a Stage II(a)Adenocarcinoma. TX to be 6 cycles of Chemo,Carboplatin,Taxol,Avastin & 8 treatments of Avastin beginning 7-25-07.
7-25-07,thru 7-29-07 Chemo treatments. Headaches,nausea,fatigue, constipation, we're the side effects i experienced. Nausea aided with Comprazie,headaches with Tylenol,constipation with Sensecot-S.
SEPT 7th: CT scan taken
SEPT 13th: Met with Onc.. Tumor hs shrunk to where it's barely visible on the scan. Continuing with chemo treatments
OCT.-07 Continuing treatmens. No change in my BC's or physical condition. Lost 21#'s since June,but weight has stabalized. Another CT scan will be taken this month & Radiation treatments may star

You should be able to see in my signature that my sister did Cyberknife for the tumor that remained after first line chemo/radiation that sterilized the nodes but left behind some active tumor. She weathered it like a champ and the only real issue was lying down on the table for the time it took. (back pain and some post nasal drip that was more annoying when lying down)

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My sister Kelly was diagnosed with 3b NSCLC in May of 2007. A nodule on her adrenal gland has at times been thought to also be involved, but I, her surgeon, her radiation oncologist, and many oncologists I work with don't think it is. So we're going with that. She completed 5 rounds of carbo/taxol on a weekly schedule with concurrent radiation for 37 days. CT and PET showed nodes were clean but still residual activity in the tumor, which was reduced in size from 8x5 cm to 3x2cm. She attempted a lobectomy on 22 January 08 but the tumor resides a bit in the lower lobe in addition to the upper lobe, and the surgeon would not remove the entire left lung. She started Tarceva on 27 February 08. Her first scan showed decreased activity in the tumor and yet again, nothing new outside of that tumor. Her Dr. and I were actually kind of shocked! June '08 she had a total of 48 Gy of radiation via cyberknife. Her PET from 10 Sept '08 showed nothing new, the tumor size not really changed, but the SUV went down again, from 3.9 in May to 3.1, down from about 19 when this all started. She took a bit of a Tarceva holiday as we had some electrolyte issues due to not eating anything. She is currently back on it and taking 50 mg with tolerable toxicity. December '08 scan showed stable disease and yet again, less activity than before. April '09 scan actually said "area of hypermetabolic activity previously noted is not visualized today"! I could hardly believe my eyes and read it over and over. August and December '09 scans nearly identical! Now the June 2010 scan is just like the last ones - no uptake in the tumor, no new sites! Scan in January 2011 showed something on a rib on the contralateral side. Everyone in agreement that she broke a rib when she took a really bad fall a couple months ago. No one seems to think it is cancer, since the PET showed nothing in the lung or lymph nodes! Not moving to yearly scans yet though, so back in July! Our family really needed that good news as a month before we buried our 26 yr old nephew and are all still reeling from the shock and pain. July 2011 scan showed nothing new and she and the dr agreed to give her a drug break, so she went off Tarceva and so he wants to scan again in 3 months. There was a 3 mm nodule in the other lung and he didn't want to wait too long to scan given that and the no drug status. Scan in October of 2011 again showed nothing new, no growth, all is stable. The nodule in the other lung still listed as 2-3 mm. February 2012 scan was same as it ever was. :) Next scan is in August and she'll have gone one year without any treatment at that point. On May 19th it was 5 yrs from the day we heard she had lung cancer and we marked the occasion with a big party full of family and friends! She had a scan on Aug 24th and the results were more of the same, and marching orders from her oncologist that he doesn't need to see her for another year!

Thanks, & good luck to you both.
DaveC

_________________
May 25th, noticed a streak of blood in sputum. I'd had a persistant productive cough for a few weeks. Made an appt. with my primary care physician for June 11th.
JUNE 11th: Chest x-ray revealed a"suspicious" nodule found on R lung.
JUNE 12th: CT SCAN. Tumor ID'd on uppper portion of R lung.
JUNE 14th: PT SCAN
JUNE 15th: Pulminory tests
JUNE 18th: Bronchoscopy.Everything O.K.
JUNE 21st: MRI,brain Scan.Nothing found
JULY 9th: Needle Biopsy
JULY 18th:Met with Oncologist.Tumor,3CM in size, determined to be a Stage II(a)Adenocarcinoma. TX to be 6 cycles of Chemo,Carboplatin,Taxol,Avastin & 8 treatments of Avastin beginning 7-25-07.
7-25-07,thru 7-29-07 Chemo treatments. Headaches,nausea,fatigue, constipation, we're the side effects i experienced. Nausea aided with Comprazie,headaches with Tylenol,constipation with Sensecot-S.
SEPT 7th: CT scan taken
SEPT 13th: Met with Onc.. Tumor hs shrunk to where it's barely visible on the scan. Continuing with chemo treatments
OCT.-07 Continuing treatmens. No change in my BC's or physical condition. Lost 21#'s since June,but weight has stabalized. Another CT scan will be taken this month & Radiation treatments may star

Dave,
My mom, who is 81 years old, just had cyberknife November 2009 and just had her Pet Scan June 7th.. the results were, NED... yes, nothing left , but a bit of scar tissue. She is a 3 year cancer survivor, has had two wedge sections and now this. I'm not sure what kind of information you would like to know, but I will be more than happy to answer what I can if you would like to PM me.

Briefly, this is all I know.. Mom's tumor was in CM not mm, so it had some size to it, but cyberknife still worked for her. She was not a candidate for another surgery due to her COPD and the fact that last surgery resulted in a 3 week hospital stay for her, due to complications- pneumonia etc. Cyberknife requires, scans , biopsies and also markers to be placed prior . It's a long prep process , but the actual treatment time varies per patient. My mom had 5 days of treatment and she was required to lie on the table for a long period of time.. she was there about 3 hours each time. There are a lot of variables to this plan... I will be glad to give you details, if you write to me.. Mom, due to her age had a rough time with fatigue after , but this is not always the case. Your case may be more like Joel's .. see Maryanne's post in the test time forum.. We are currently waiting , once again for Joel's follow up to his latest scan. So far, he has done well.

As I have said, feel free to PM me if you have further questions you would like to ask. Best of luck to you.

Hugs,
Sue

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[size=84]husband, Mike, 59 years old
**2-01 dx'd Stage 1 nsclc-9cm tumor to right lung-no lymph node involvement...
**4-30-01 pneumonectomy right lung removed. No followup chemo or radiation , but scans and xrays were done
**1-28-04 dx w/recurrent stage IV nsclc tumor on stump of where right lung had been removed , lymph node involvement, tumor adrenal gland -lft side, **02-04-04- taxol & carboplatin 3 treatments-didn't work
**02-12-04- radiation 10 to lung for bleeding
**04-2--04-taxotere had 4 treatments. shrinkage had occured in all after 3.. continuing taxotere. making him very tired ... upper body swelling ..
** 08-01-04-in hospital
latest..
**08-02-04 had stent put in .. superior vena cava.. the vein was being blocked by pressure tumor.
**08-05-04-started 10 radiation treatments,
**08-30-04- started Navelbine on 3 weeks and off 1 Scan after 5 treatments show chemo Navelbine not working -slight decrease to lung mass, but slight increase to adrenal ....
**11-01-04-starting Gemzar ... had 3 treatments... too many side effects... Ct of chest and upper abdomen done on Dec. 2nd -results some shrinkage
**12-06-04-started Alimta Dec. 6th- first treatment went well Had 2nd treatment Dec. 27th ... developed a rash and is tired, but otherwise ok Scan Feb 7th, 2005 STABLE doing good continuing Alimta April 18th scans showed stable disease (after 6 Alimta treatments), but he now has pneumonitis... no more treatments until much better.. on prednisone and oxygen..
**05-31-05 Ct scan of chest showed pneumonitis resolved and stable cancer
**06-06-05-our 35th wedding anniversary... onc confirms everything resolving and stable -reccommends break continued til August
**6-15-05 to 6-18-05 in hospital due to mental confusion ..
had MRI-member empty head club

8-3-2005-Ct scans chest , abdomen and pelvic....Waiting and praying...
**8-8-2005-Ct results were that the chest area looked improved, but the adrenal area had increased and involved some lymph nodes.
Started Tarceva 150mg 8-16-2005-8-20-2005 stopped 2 weeks due to severe rash on 9-8-2005 started back on Tarceva at 100 mg now.. stopped again on 9-19-2005
9-30-2005 scans slight progression to nodes behind adrenal..
10-10-2005-Camptosar- CPT-11 started
10-31-2005- CPT-11
refused more CPT-11 made him extremely fatigued and nauseated
Dec. 6th -CTscans chest, abdomen & pelvic. shows stable but tumor compressing the esophagus..
Dec. 19th- had stent to trachea put in
Dec. 21st- he had stent to esophagus and feeding tube put in
Dec. 22nd.. he will ill put in hospital... vomiting and also coughing and congestion in for 4 days... home for Christmas Dec. 25th... still recouperating with antibiotics etc.
Continuing cough and numerous doctor visits.
*Jan 30th-Feb 4th- hospitalized again with cough ..
Still has cough , but controlled most of the time Hasn't been able to resume chemo

**My "prince charming", best friend, husband and soul mate,, Mike passed away March 2, 2006 after being a 5 year survivor and fighting a very courageous battle**
______________________
Mom- 78 yrs old..
nsclc diag May 2nd, 2007-surgery 2sm tumors removed in wedge section... lymph nodes clear
Tarceva as adjuvant started on June 23rd..quit July2nd.. side effects numerous... am waiting now til next appt. July 13th
July 20th... Mom NED.PET clear and normal .. will go back on half 75mg Tarceva... see how that works..
Stop Tarceva 8-25 too many side effects
Oct. 22nd- Mom surgeon visit, chest xray and results .. all clear, no sign of cancer...
Feb. 18th Mom's PET Scan
March 7th Mom's PET Scan results.. NED
Sept. 22, 08 Mom PET Scan
Sept. 29, 08 Mom PET results new nodule 3/4 "...here we go again.... :-(
*Updated*- Mom surgery- Oct. 30th.. surgeon removed top part of upper right lobe. Nothing showed malignant. She had pneumonia after surgery and a 3 week hospital stay, but she is slowly regaining her strength and is currently NED..

March 3, 2009 CT scan.... results showed some little things along suture line that the doctor believed was healing.. will wait til next scan and compare.

June 2, 2009- CT Scan.. results there is an area along suture line that has increased in size and thickening.. doctor thinks could be cancer... a needle biopsy will be done..

A quick update.. the results of the needle biopsy did confirm that it was cancer...

Cyberknife was done the first week in November..

Pet scan .. Dec. 8th...
Dec. 11th -results .. cyberknife worked and the rest of the scan is clean... YAY!!! Happy Birthday (Dec. 19th.. 81st) and Merry Xmas Mom!
Dec. 2010 NED!!!
June 2, 2011.. Pet Scan results .. NED!!!
Nov 3, 2011.. CT scan results.. NED!!!
Sept. 18, 2012 .. our loving mom has passed on ..Heaven received a most precious angel.


graphic by
http://www.maryslittlelamb.com[/size]

and Sues Mom Gwen just became friends with NED!! No Evidence of Disease!!

_________________
April/03 My Wife Deborah, age 46, diagnosed adenocarcinoma NSCLC
1/20/2006 Admitted to hospital Respiratory distress
1/23/2006 Ran to the light and is waiting for us to be rejoined in the Kingdom Of Heaven Her journey is Over but mine lingers on for Now!!!
4/23/07 DEb is joined in Peace by her Puppy Dawg Daisy from Cancer
8/30/07 Got new Pup named Mocha!!

"No matter hnow much it hurts, No matter how alone you feel, Your friends will help you get through anything!!"
Scrubs!!!!Yes the comedy show!!!

The Reason I advocate
If you would like to see our family photos Click on this link!
http://deborah-wallin.memory-of.com/

My memory-of Link is good to go now if you want to see it!!

SUE, P.M. sent.
THanks,
DaveC

_________________
May 25th, noticed a streak of blood in sputum. I'd had a persistant productive cough for a few weeks. Made an appt. with my primary care physician for June 11th.
JUNE 11th: Chest x-ray revealed a"suspicious" nodule found on R lung.
JUNE 12th: CT SCAN. Tumor ID'd on uppper portion of R lung.
JUNE 14th: PT SCAN
JUNE 15th: Pulminory tests
JUNE 18th: Bronchoscopy.Everything O.K.
JUNE 21st: MRI,brain Scan.Nothing found
JULY 9th: Needle Biopsy
JULY 18th:Met with Oncologist.Tumor,3CM in size, determined to be a Stage II(a)Adenocarcinoma. TX to be 6 cycles of Chemo,Carboplatin,Taxol,Avastin & 8 treatments of Avastin beginning 7-25-07.
7-25-07,thru 7-29-07 Chemo treatments. Headaches,nausea,fatigue, constipation, we're the side effects i experienced. Nausea aided with Comprazie,headaches with Tylenol,constipation with Sensecot-S.
SEPT 7th: CT scan taken
SEPT 13th: Met with Onc.. Tumor hs shrunk to where it's barely visible on the scan. Continuing with chemo treatments
OCT.-07 Continuing treatmens. No change in my BC's or physical condition. Lost 21#'s since June,but weight has stabalized. Another CT scan will be taken this month & Radiation treatments may star