Posted on 08/28/2015 12:52:57 PM PDT by Brad from Tennessee
TAMPA — David Allison knew better than most his chances of surviving pancreatic cancer.
His brother and sister had died from the disease.
"I figured it was the beginning of the end," said the 75-year-old retired milk truck driver, who spends his winters in Oldsmar.
Allison tried fighting the cancer with conventional chemotherapy and radiation in April. But the treatment made him weak. His appetite disappeared. He lost nearly 30 pounds.
He had resigned to let the disease run its notoriously deadly course — until a doctor told him about something that sounded promising: a novel approach to chemotherapy that could deliver high doses directly to his tumor, while sparing him some of the side effects.
"All of a sudden, I had hope," Allison said.
So do the doctors at Florida Hospital Tampa, one of two hospitals nationally conducting clinical trials on the procedure. Dr. Alex Rosemurgy, the lead investigator, said the treatment has the potential to shrink pancreatic tumors more effectively than conventional chemotherapy. That, he added, could make more patients eligible to have their tumors surgically removed. . .
(Excerpt) Read more at tampabay.com ...
I read the article.
I take it this does not work if the cancer is metastatic.
Still, this is a tough cancer to beat, and since chemo is systemic therapy, a direct to tumor approach is much better.
Always wondered why they don’t do this, and always assumed someone must have tried and it failed.
I pray that it works for him and others.
Oh does this sound promising.
Twenty some years ago, a young I was friends with (she had three little girls, and we were involved w/kids activities) took I’ll. she thought it was her gall bladder. After some tests, they found pancreatic cancer. She got really sick, really fast. Even w/treatment she died about 7 months later.
Her husband did a magnificent job raising three girls alone. Her story still hits me like a ton of bricks (even after this many years).
I pray that these doctors& researchers have “found” something here.
My mother died from pancreatic cancer at age 65, 9 months after diagnosis.
The hard part is diagnosing pancreatic cancer early enough in its progression.
My grandpa died of Pancreas cancer. They gave him 3 months and he didn’t last a week
My late father was a brilliant physician who told me the first thing you learn in med school is don’t mess with the pancreas. Anything else can be fixed but that.
Knew a woman, she was in her late 70’s, who had been feeling poorly for about six months. She had seen several doctors, and been referred to a couple of specialists before one finally diagnosed the pancreatic cancer. That was on Friday, and she was admitted the same day. She died the following Wednesday. It is a tough one.
My brother died of pancreatic cancer. I admit I fear it will happen to me.
I hope this new treatment works. It does sound promising.
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My dear sister was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer on April 3rd. After a series of chemotherapy, the tumor was determined to have grown, do the treatments were discontinued. She died on August 1st.
The article infers that the treatment would be for those whose cancer had not metastisized. Sadly, pancreatic cancer is often diagnosed too late for any serious treatment.
I do hope this new process shows evidence of advancement towards a cure.
One of my surgeons told me the same: He said the first thing surgeons are taught in medical school is to stay away from the pancreas.
Sorry for your loss, Gumdrop.
I also lost a sister to cancer, non smoker lung cancer. The primary site was no larger than a pencil eraser. She had to get back pain to know the cancer was present. This was in 2000. Sadly, 15 years later her prognosis would be just as poor.
This is good news. Thanks for posting.
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