Stable?

Stable is almost as good as it gets…stable and shrinking at the 1st scans post Yervoy is worthy of a celebratory dance!  It sounds like Yervoy is working, or at least keeping things at bay.   You'll probably be encouraged to watch and wait for a couple of months to rescan (unless there are symptoms that make you think he's progressing).   My husband had tumors show up on his scans 1-2 years after they stopped growing.  A PETscan confirmed they were non-active (or dead), they eventually disappeared.

Stable is almost as good as it gets…stable and shrinking at the 1st scans post Yervoy is worthy of a celebratory dance!  It sounds like Yervoy is working, or at least keeping things at bay.   You'll probably be encouraged to watch and wait for a couple of months to rescan (unless there are symptoms that make you think he's progressing).   My husband had tumors show up on his scans 1-2 years after they stopped growing.  A PETscan confirmed they were non-active (or dead), they eventually disappeared.

Stable is almost as good as it gets…stable and shrinking at the 1st scans post Yervoy is worthy of a celebratory dance!  It sounds like Yervoy is working, or at least keeping things at bay.   You'll probably be encouraged to watch and wait for a couple of months to rescan (unless there are symptoms that make you think he's progressing).   My husband had tumors show up on his scans 1-2 years after they stopped growing.  A PETscan confirmed they were non-active (or dead), they eventually disappeared.

Stable is good– not quite as good as shrinking–but good. Look at it this way… if your husband was not being treated at all, or if the treatment was not working, you could expect that all of his tumors would have grown during the last 12 weeks. So the fact that they are not growing means that the treatment is working. So Hooray!! 

Stable is good– not quite as good as shrinking–but good. Look at it this way… if your husband was not being treated at all, or if the treatment was not working, you could expect that all of his tumors would have grown during the last 12 weeks. So the fact that they are not growing means that the treatment is working. So Hooray!! 

Stable is good– not quite as good as shrinking–but good. Look at it this way… if your husband was not being treated at all, or if the treatment was not working, you could expect that all of his tumors would have grown during the last 12 weeks. So the fact that they are not growing means that the treatment is working. So Hooray!! 

While "stable implies that there are still tumors.  The possibility exiists that they are necrotic and so still show  on the scan.  The onkly way to be aboslutely sure is to remove each.  As long as the 'ct shows something the term Ned is not likely to be used.  IN my case, my targeted chemo is a cytoSTATIC  (STATIC -IE stops tumor cell reproduction) and does not necessarily cause apoptosis (normal cell death).  Studies have shown for this drug , if it is stopped, growth is likely to resume.  Some people have been on it for over 10 years for GIST, lymphoma, and Leukemia.  Stable is live, Ned would be great.but I know several people that died within two months of it stopping work.

While "stable implies that there are still tumors.  The possibility exiists that they are necrotic and so still show  on the scan.  The onkly way to be aboslutely sure is to remove each.  As long as the 'ct shows something the term Ned is not likely to be used.  IN my case, my targeted chemo is a cytoSTATIC  (STATIC -IE stops tumor cell reproduction) and does not necessarily cause apoptosis (normal cell death).  Studies have shown for this drug , if it is stopped, growth is likely to resume.  Some people have been on it for over 10 years for GIST, lymphoma, and Leukemia.  Stable is live, Ned would be great.but I know several people that died within two months of it stopping work.

While "stable implies that there are still tumors.  The possibility exiists that they are necrotic and so still show  on the scan.  The onkly way to be aboslutely sure is to remove each.  As long as the 'ct shows something the term Ned is not likely to be used.  IN my case, my targeted chemo is a cytoSTATIC  (STATIC -IE stops tumor cell reproduction) and does not necessarily cause apoptosis (normal cell death).  Studies have shown for this drug , if it is stopped, growth is likely to resume.  Some people have been on it for over 10 years for GIST, lymphoma, and Leukemia.  Stable is live, Ned would be great.but I know several people that died within two months of it stopping work.

I share your anxiety over "stable."  My Dad (Stage IV, lung, liver, and spine) has had four treatments of Ipi / Yervoy.  After his third treatment they found approximately 30% shrinkage in his tumors.  He JUST got scan results about an hour ago during treatment #4, and the doctors just said everything is "stable" and that there might have been a small amount of growth on his lungs but they couldn't tell for sure.

The great news after his 3rd scan raised our expectations for this one, so we are all feeling deflated and concerned.  Does this mean it has stopped working?  Should we expect growth at the next scan? Does Ipi ever "pause" in shrinking tumors and then start back up?  

Would love to hear any others' experiences and Nancy would appreciate any additional notes you might be able to share.  Dad doesn't go back for his next scan until April, and the doctor doesn't really offer up a lot of detail or opinion on what he is seeing other than a vague "looks good." The absence of detail and explanation makes my head spin!

I share your anxiety over "stable."  My Dad (Stage IV, lung, liver, and spine) has had four treatments of Ipi / Yervoy.  After his third treatment they found approximately 30% shrinkage in his tumors.  He JUST got scan results about an hour ago during treatment #4, and the doctors just said everything is "stable" and that there might have been a small amount of growth on his lungs but they couldn't tell for sure.

The great news after his 3rd scan raised our expectations for this one, so we are all feeling deflated and concerned.  Does this mean it has stopped working?  Should we expect growth at the next scan? Does Ipi ever "pause" in shrinking tumors and then start back up?  

Would love to hear any others' experiences and Nancy would appreciate any additional notes you might be able to share.  Dad doesn't go back for his next scan until April, and the doctor doesn't really offer up a lot of detail or opinion on what he is seeing other than a vague "looks good." The absence of detail and explanation makes my head spin!

I share your anxiety over "stable."  My Dad (Stage IV, lung, liver, and spine) has had four treatments of Ipi / Yervoy.  After his third treatment they found approximately 30% shrinkage in his tumors.  He JUST got scan results about an hour ago during treatment #4, and the doctors just said everything is "stable" and that there might have been a small amount of growth on his lungs but they couldn't tell for sure.

The great news after his 3rd scan raised our expectations for this one, so we are all feeling deflated and concerned.  Does this mean it has stopped working?  Should we expect growth at the next scan? Does Ipi ever "pause" in shrinking tumors and then start back up?  

Would love to hear any others' experiences and Nancy would appreciate any additional notes you might be able to share.  Dad doesn't go back for his next scan until April, and the doctor doesn't really offer up a lot of detail or opinion on what he is seeing other than a vague "looks good." The absence of detail and explanation makes my head spin!