› Forums › General Melanoma Community › Question regarding high/low tumor burden
- This topic has 9 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 9 years, 7 months ago by
Scooby123.
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- April 13, 2016 at 10:01 am
Hello everybody!
I was just wondering how does one know if the tumor burden is high/low?
My fathers oncologyst doesn t use that terminology, so i m not sure where does he stand…
He has a melanoma on his back and some in his lungs (we don˙t know how many of them, because all his reports state just mets in the lungs… is that high or low?
He s currently on keytruda and has no side effects, first pet scan is scheduled for may…..
Thank you very much for the info….
Patrisa
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- April 13, 2016 at 4:08 pm
That's an interesting question Patrisa. I don't know the technical delineation between the two.
Surprised the report is vague on the lungs. Don't hesitate to ask for clarification. I've done that in the past when I felt the information provided wasn't thorough enough. How has your father's LDH levels been? Although not 100% accurate that can be an indication of tumor burden. Just based on what you said I would not think your father would be classified as a heavy tumor burden but definitely don't have enough information or technical knowledge to say for sure.
Brian
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- April 13, 2016 at 4:08 pm
That's an interesting question Patrisa. I don't know the technical delineation between the two.
Surprised the report is vague on the lungs. Don't hesitate to ask for clarification. I've done that in the past when I felt the information provided wasn't thorough enough. How has your father's LDH levels been? Although not 100% accurate that can be an indication of tumor burden. Just based on what you said I would not think your father would be classified as a heavy tumor burden but definitely don't have enough information or technical knowledge to say for sure.
Brian
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- April 13, 2016 at 4:08 pm
That's an interesting question Patrisa. I don't know the technical delineation between the two.
Surprised the report is vague on the lungs. Don't hesitate to ask for clarification. I've done that in the past when I felt the information provided wasn't thorough enough. How has your father's LDH levels been? Although not 100% accurate that can be an indication of tumor burden. Just based on what you said I would not think your father would be classified as a heavy tumor burden but definitely don't have enough information or technical knowledge to say for sure.
Brian
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- April 13, 2016 at 5:46 pm
BrianP, thank you so much for replying….
my fathers ldh levels are always in the normal range, all his blood parameters are…
it has been rather difficult to get all the information, because my father never lets any of us – his family members to go with him to the doctors, he prefers to go alone and knowing him, i can bet my life on it that he does not ask a single question… He feels that the less he knows the better :-)))
since i'm his exact opposite, i have to know everything and carefully reading everything you wonderful people post here, i started to wonder about his tumor burden… Because, i have read that keytuda works better with lower tumor burden…
in regard to his mets and lack of numbers in the report, we have received a cd from his pet scan, but even i was to affraid to watch it…
hugs to everyone!
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- April 13, 2016 at 5:46 pm
BrianP, thank you so much for replying….
my fathers ldh levels are always in the normal range, all his blood parameters are…
it has been rather difficult to get all the information, because my father never lets any of us – his family members to go with him to the doctors, he prefers to go alone and knowing him, i can bet my life on it that he does not ask a single question… He feels that the less he knows the better :-)))
since i'm his exact opposite, i have to know everything and carefully reading everything you wonderful people post here, i started to wonder about his tumor burden… Because, i have read that keytuda works better with lower tumor burden…
in regard to his mets and lack of numbers in the report, we have received a cd from his pet scan, but even i was to affraid to watch it…
hugs to everyone!
-
- April 13, 2016 at 5:46 pm
BrianP, thank you so much for replying….
my fathers ldh levels are always in the normal range, all his blood parameters are…
it has been rather difficult to get all the information, because my father never lets any of us – his family members to go with him to the doctors, he prefers to go alone and knowing him, i can bet my life on it that he does not ask a single question… He feels that the less he knows the better :-)))
since i'm his exact opposite, i have to know everything and carefully reading everything you wonderful people post here, i started to wonder about his tumor burden… Because, i have read that keytuda works better with lower tumor burden…
in regard to his mets and lack of numbers in the report, we have received a cd from his pet scan, but even i was to affraid to watch it…
hugs to everyone!
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- April 13, 2016 at 9:18 pm
Hi Patrisa,
that was a question I was going to post. I am stage 5 liver , lungs, now brain. Has far has my consultant has said too me that I have one tumour on both lungs, 3 on liver, one brain .
I had ippi last June which shrunk my tumours by 50% so I am guessing biggest tumour would be 1.4 cm on liver. I have been stable on liver, lungs but now got this brain tumour at 5.5mm which has been treated with SRS . I am not sure if there is any other mets which I am not aware of.
I do not know if it's how many or how big or if how many organs are involved. This is a question to ask my consultant on next visit.
wishing your dad all the best
scooby123❤️
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- April 13, 2016 at 9:18 pm
Hi Patrisa,
that was a question I was going to post. I am stage 5 liver , lungs, now brain. Has far has my consultant has said too me that I have one tumour on both lungs, 3 on liver, one brain .
I had ippi last June which shrunk my tumours by 50% so I am guessing biggest tumour would be 1.4 cm on liver. I have been stable on liver, lungs but now got this brain tumour at 5.5mm which has been treated with SRS . I am not sure if there is any other mets which I am not aware of.
I do not know if it's how many or how big or if how many organs are involved. This is a question to ask my consultant on next visit.
wishing your dad all the best
scooby123❤️
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- April 13, 2016 at 9:18 pm
Hi Patrisa,
that was a question I was going to post. I am stage 5 liver , lungs, now brain. Has far has my consultant has said too me that I have one tumour on both lungs, 3 on liver, one brain .
I had ippi last June which shrunk my tumours by 50% so I am guessing biggest tumour would be 1.4 cm on liver. I have been stable on liver, lungs but now got this brain tumour at 5.5mm which has been treated with SRS . I am not sure if there is any other mets which I am not aware of.
I do not know if it's how many or how big or if how many organs are involved. This is a question to ask my consultant on next visit.
wishing your dad all the best
scooby123❤️
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