› Forums › General Melanoma Community › Lung nodule resection???
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djpayn.
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- February 16, 2012 at 9:53 pm
Would love some advice!!! After having the 3 cm tumor removed from my brain in December, whole brain radiation just completed due to a new 4mm brain tumor, my docs are pushing for resection of a lung nodule that was found in December when all this started and hasn't grown at all. I have had 2 bronchoscopies that say that there are no abnormal cells but the nodule is so deep in the lung the docs say they can't be 100% they got to it during the procedures. I really do not want a resection. The nodule didn't show on the PET scans, just CTs.
Would love some advice!!! After having the 3 cm tumor removed from my brain in December, whole brain radiation just completed due to a new 4mm brain tumor, my docs are pushing for resection of a lung nodule that was found in December when all this started and hasn't grown at all. I have had 2 bronchoscopies that say that there are no abnormal cells but the nodule is so deep in the lung the docs say they can't be 100% they got to it during the procedures. I really do not want a resection. The nodule didn't show on the PET scans, just CTs. I feel in my heart of hearts (for whatever that is worth) that it is not another tumor, especially since it has grown at all in 2 months.
What would you do?
Thanks!
Brenda
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- February 16, 2012 at 10:31 pm
If it’s not growing and it’s not causing any problems, I would just leave it alone. A thoracotomy isn’t the easiest surgery to recover from (quite a bit of pain). My husband’s melanoma specialist isn’t a huge proponent of surgery, unless it’s necessary. Even if it is cancer, it’s not causing you trouble and you can live with tumors. My husband has 7-8 right now and is living a busy, full life. -
- February 16, 2012 at 10:31 pm
If it’s not growing and it’s not causing any problems, I would just leave it alone. A thoracotomy isn’t the easiest surgery to recover from (quite a bit of pain). My husband’s melanoma specialist isn’t a huge proponent of surgery, unless it’s necessary. Even if it is cancer, it’s not causing you trouble and you can live with tumors. My husband has 7-8 right now and is living a busy, full life. -
- February 16, 2012 at 10:31 pm
If it’s not growing and it’s not causing any problems, I would just leave it alone. A thoracotomy isn’t the easiest surgery to recover from (quite a bit of pain). My husband’s melanoma specialist isn’t a huge proponent of surgery, unless it’s necessary. Even if it is cancer, it’s not causing you trouble and you can live with tumors. My husband has 7-8 right now and is living a busy, full life. -
- February 16, 2012 at 10:37 pm
My spouse had lung lobe removed in Sept. Spot looked small and nebulous on petscan, but was indeed Melanoma. He has recovered well from surgery with a lot of exercise to get rid of the pleural effusion. He is 70, never smoked.
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- February 16, 2012 at 10:37 pm
My spouse had lung lobe removed in Sept. Spot looked small and nebulous on petscan, but was indeed Melanoma. He has recovered well from surgery with a lot of exercise to get rid of the pleural effusion. He is 70, never smoked.
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- February 16, 2012 at 10:37 pm
My spouse had lung lobe removed in Sept. Spot looked small and nebulous on petscan, but was indeed Melanoma. He has recovered well from surgery with a lot of exercise to get rid of the pleural effusion. He is 70, never smoked.
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- February 16, 2012 at 11:01 pm
I had a thoracotomy to remove a melanoma about 6.8 cent at the widest area by my heart…I also had a small nodule in my lung…they said it hadn't changed sizes or anything ( it was always visible in scans). Since they were going in anyways the surgeon at Mayo said he would like to get it and was going to do a wedge resection…he did and it was just a small lymph node…nothing at all. If they are going to do a thoracotomy I would say let them do it…BUT if they want to do a thoracotomy just to get it….I don't think I personally would do it. A thoracotomy is so painful and recovery is awful!!
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- February 16, 2012 at 11:01 pm
I had a thoracotomy to remove a melanoma about 6.8 cent at the widest area by my heart…I also had a small nodule in my lung…they said it hadn't changed sizes or anything ( it was always visible in scans). Since they were going in anyways the surgeon at Mayo said he would like to get it and was going to do a wedge resection…he did and it was just a small lymph node…nothing at all. If they are going to do a thoracotomy I would say let them do it…BUT if they want to do a thoracotomy just to get it….I don't think I personally would do it. A thoracotomy is so painful and recovery is awful!!
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- February 16, 2012 at 11:01 pm
I had a thoracotomy to remove a melanoma about 6.8 cent at the widest area by my heart…I also had a small nodule in my lung…they said it hadn't changed sizes or anything ( it was always visible in scans). Since they were going in anyways the surgeon at Mayo said he would like to get it and was going to do a wedge resection…he did and it was just a small lymph node…nothing at all. If they are going to do a thoracotomy I would say let them do it…BUT if they want to do a thoracotomy just to get it….I don't think I personally would do it. A thoracotomy is so painful and recovery is awful!!
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- February 17, 2012 at 2:00 am
Brenda, I don't feel that there is any urgent need for surgery on the lung nodule. However, it is wise to remain vigilant and if the next scan shows growth, the situation should be reassessed.
I think that systemic treatments should be considered now. In general, it appears that the best options include TIL treatment (adoptive cell therapy), Yervoy, IL-2 (interleukin-2), or an anti PD-1 (MDX-1106) clinical trial.
Note that IL-2 before or after Yervoy can make a good combination. Early results of Anti PD-1 trials seem to be very promising.
Hope this helps
Frank from Australia
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- February 17, 2012 at 2:00 am
Brenda, I don't feel that there is any urgent need for surgery on the lung nodule. However, it is wise to remain vigilant and if the next scan shows growth, the situation should be reassessed.
I think that systemic treatments should be considered now. In general, it appears that the best options include TIL treatment (adoptive cell therapy), Yervoy, IL-2 (interleukin-2), or an anti PD-1 (MDX-1106) clinical trial.
Note that IL-2 before or after Yervoy can make a good combination. Early results of Anti PD-1 trials seem to be very promising.
Hope this helps
Frank from Australia
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- February 17, 2012 at 2:00 am
Brenda, I don't feel that there is any urgent need for surgery on the lung nodule. However, it is wise to remain vigilant and if the next scan shows growth, the situation should be reassessed.
I think that systemic treatments should be considered now. In general, it appears that the best options include TIL treatment (adoptive cell therapy), Yervoy, IL-2 (interleukin-2), or an anti PD-1 (MDX-1106) clinical trial.
Note that IL-2 before or after Yervoy can make a good combination. Early results of Anti PD-1 trials seem to be very promising.
Hope this helps
Frank from Australia
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- February 17, 2012 at 2:39 pm
Thanks all! I have gotten 2 opinions and they both pretty much say "let's get it out to be 100%". The rest of my treatment depends on if this thing is melanoma or not. I personally do not want to have the surgery. there has been no growth in 2 months. I am relatively young and healthy and would like to stay healthy. Surgery can be risky and I just don't want to put myself in that position unless it is necessary. My onc says that if it is mel then we will start some of the systemic treatments. If it isn't, we will do Interferon since otherwise there aren't other tumors to worry about. I have a 4mm tumor in my brain but just had 10 rounds of radiation for that. So, this is a hard decision.
Brenda
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- February 18, 2012 at 5:01 pm
Brenda — I would certainly be hesitant to undergo a serious surgery in this situation. Also, Interferon is not normally used in stage IV and the fact that this has been suggested makes me wonder if your docs are melanoma specialists. I know you said you've gotten a second opinion, but has this been from a bonafide melanoma specialist?
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- February 18, 2012 at 5:01 pm
Brenda — I would certainly be hesitant to undergo a serious surgery in this situation. Also, Interferon is not normally used in stage IV and the fact that this has been suggested makes me wonder if your docs are melanoma specialists. I know you said you've gotten a second opinion, but has this been from a bonafide melanoma specialist?
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- February 18, 2012 at 5:01 pm
Brenda — I would certainly be hesitant to undergo a serious surgery in this situation. Also, Interferon is not normally used in stage IV and the fact that this has been suggested makes me wonder if your docs are melanoma specialists. I know you said you've gotten a second opinion, but has this been from a bonafide melanoma specialist?
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- February 17, 2012 at 2:39 pm
Thanks all! I have gotten 2 opinions and they both pretty much say "let's get it out to be 100%". The rest of my treatment depends on if this thing is melanoma or not. I personally do not want to have the surgery. there has been no growth in 2 months. I am relatively young and healthy and would like to stay healthy. Surgery can be risky and I just don't want to put myself in that position unless it is necessary. My onc says that if it is mel then we will start some of the systemic treatments. If it isn't, we will do Interferon since otherwise there aren't other tumors to worry about. I have a 4mm tumor in my brain but just had 10 rounds of radiation for that. So, this is a hard decision.
Brenda
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- February 17, 2012 at 2:39 pm
Thanks all! I have gotten 2 opinions and they both pretty much say "let's get it out to be 100%". The rest of my treatment depends on if this thing is melanoma or not. I personally do not want to have the surgery. there has been no growth in 2 months. I am relatively young and healthy and would like to stay healthy. Surgery can be risky and I just don't want to put myself in that position unless it is necessary. My onc says that if it is mel then we will start some of the systemic treatments. If it isn't, we will do Interferon since otherwise there aren't other tumors to worry about. I have a 4mm tumor in my brain but just had 10 rounds of radiation for that. So, this is a hard decision.
Brenda
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- February 17, 2012 at 3:10 pm
My husband's surgery was done endoscopically. Recovery wasn't that painful. The pleural effusion was a nuisance, but got him out walking which cleared in up in a couple of months.
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- February 17, 2012 at 3:10 pm
My husband's surgery was done endoscopically. Recovery wasn't that painful. The pleural effusion was a nuisance, but got him out walking which cleared in up in a couple of months.
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- February 17, 2012 at 3:10 pm
My husband's surgery was done endoscopically. Recovery wasn't that painful. The pleural effusion was a nuisance, but got him out walking which cleared in up in a couple of months.
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- February 17, 2012 at 4:42 pm
just to give my experience – last Jan I had 12 small nodules show up on my lungs. My PET a month before had been clear – but these spots were all between 2mm-4mm. My doctor said since I was young and healthy (all things considered) he wanted to know for sure what the spots were vs. waiting to rescan. In March 2011 I had a VAT's procedure done. Required 2 nights in the hospital. Recovery wasn't too bad – but they removed 2 spots which did confirm spread of melanoma to the lungs.
I've been fortunate that since then the spots have all disappeared. One might wonder if it was really melanoma in the lungs? but they take a different approach to watching me now since that. It's a tough call about if you continue a watch and wait? or cut it out.
Best of luck and positive thoughts and prayers your way!
Erin
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- February 17, 2012 at 4:42 pm
just to give my experience – last Jan I had 12 small nodules show up on my lungs. My PET a month before had been clear – but these spots were all between 2mm-4mm. My doctor said since I was young and healthy (all things considered) he wanted to know for sure what the spots were vs. waiting to rescan. In March 2011 I had a VAT's procedure done. Required 2 nights in the hospital. Recovery wasn't too bad – but they removed 2 spots which did confirm spread of melanoma to the lungs.
I've been fortunate that since then the spots have all disappeared. One might wonder if it was really melanoma in the lungs? but they take a different approach to watching me now since that. It's a tough call about if you continue a watch and wait? or cut it out.
Best of luck and positive thoughts and prayers your way!
Erin
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- February 17, 2012 at 4:42 pm
just to give my experience – last Jan I had 12 small nodules show up on my lungs. My PET a month before had been clear – but these spots were all between 2mm-4mm. My doctor said since I was young and healthy (all things considered) he wanted to know for sure what the spots were vs. waiting to rescan. In March 2011 I had a VAT's procedure done. Required 2 nights in the hospital. Recovery wasn't too bad – but they removed 2 spots which did confirm spread of melanoma to the lungs.
I've been fortunate that since then the spots have all disappeared. One might wonder if it was really melanoma in the lungs? but they take a different approach to watching me now since that. It's a tough call about if you continue a watch and wait? or cut it out.
Best of luck and positive thoughts and prayers your way!
Erin
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- February 18, 2012 at 12:47 am
for whatever it's worth, i had a wedge resection done in my lung back in december. i was expecting it to be pretty terrible… and it wasn't an awesome time, but it also wasn't unbearable. just kind of know what you're getting into 🙂 if you want any details or suggestions, let me know. good luck!!
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- February 18, 2012 at 12:47 am
for whatever it's worth, i had a wedge resection done in my lung back in december. i was expecting it to be pretty terrible… and it wasn't an awesome time, but it also wasn't unbearable. just kind of know what you're getting into 🙂 if you want any details or suggestions, let me know. good luck!!
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- February 18, 2012 at 12:47 am
for whatever it's worth, i had a wedge resection done in my lung back in december. i was expecting it to be pretty terrible… and it wasn't an awesome time, but it also wasn't unbearable. just kind of know what you're getting into 🙂 if you want any details or suggestions, let me know. good luck!!
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