MRM With Axillary Dissection Done. What Is The Cure Rate With Sterotactic Radiotherapy? Will It Spread The Disease?
Feb 2011 was 16.4 on 21-01-2012 her ca 15-3 was 9.3 and her pet/reported persistant vertebral sclerotic lesion of esssentially same size but fdg uptake was changed to 5.9 there was no other lesion reported her lung changes disappeared.. her performance and activities at present are almost normal.At present she has no pain any were..
My worry and query is regarding future management.in the light of encouraging response and cure rate with sterotactic radiotherapy,and cost good centers for it and its usefullness in my wifes case .I am scared that too much waiting can perhaps lead to spread of disease .Or shall i wait and observe...
Please be helpful and guide me
Thanks for writing in.
I am afraid that your wife had metastatic disease to start with and it is not possible on today's date to cure it. The only good thing is that she had the spread limited to bones only and had a good response to therapy. Currently she is mainlining the response to hormonal therapy.
Some patients with bone-only metastatic disease may have long duration of control (5-10 years). I sincerely wish she falls within this category.
As of now, you need to continue the anastrozole with periodic imaging (PET-CT or bone scans). At this point I don't think there is any need of stereotactic radiotherapy. There is no reason to believe that it will lead to cure. We can reserve it for a later date if she has pain over those sites and there is evidence of disease flare at those sites.
Hope I have answered your query. I will be happy to answer any follow-up queries.
Best Wishes,
Thanks
Anastrozole and zometa can definitely control the disease for certain period of time, which varies from patient to patient. But as I said, cure is not a realistic goal of therapy.