Question:
My husband had a bad mole removed 9yrs ago and we thought
all was o.k.. Jan 21 he found out that the lump on his side
(which was thought to be a fatty mass) was a cancerous tumor
that has metastised into the lymphnodes. There is also a
small tumor on his neck. His spleen is enlarged but no vital
organs appear to have cancer. He (we) are having a very
difficult time deciding on what treatment. Monday he goes to
Pittsburgh to sign up for a clinical trial. He will start
treatment the following Monday. He is also looking into a
vacine trial at NCI in Bethesda,MD. Is there anyone out
there that has gone through a clinical trial for malignant
melanoma stage IV( that has metastasized)? The one in Pitts.
is two trials. You don't know which one you will get into.
Group A is three different chemos (Dacarbazine,Cisplatin and
Vinblastine). Group B is chemo plus interluekin-2(il-2) and
interferon a-2b (IFN). At this point we are doing ALOT of
praying. Any info would help.
Answer:
I am so sorry to hear of your husband's diagnosis. My wife was diagnosed
with Stage IV lung cancer, last March, so I know some of what you will be
going through. Brace yourself! It will be very bad for you both...
One thing that struck me from your message is how long it's been since
the diagnosis, with no treatment started yet.
If you ever need to talk, please, feel free to email me.
If you're not aware of it, there's a website called dejanews.com that has
YEARS' worth of website traffic, all archived and searchable. You should
go there and look for more info. Also, the NIH or NCI websites have all of
the accepted treatments and survival statistics, for each type and stage of
cancer. What "stage" was your husband diagnosed with?
