General Medicine

» tinuviel - Spinal cancer issue

In response to Spinal cancer issue posted by redback:

Thanks for the wishes. You're certainly right in saying that a lot of things might have been left out of their relation to me of what was actually said by the doctor. I certainly wouldn't be recommending anything at all to them. I'm neither immediate family nor a doctor myself.

I'll just let you know anything else I hear.

-- posted by tinuviel

» P_Al - Spinal cancer issue

In response to Spinal cancer issue posted by tinuviel:

Although it will be difficult, I think for now it is a matter of waiting to see what the tumour is. You suggested that they have decided to do surgery - I am assuming that the doctors have discussed any options and your relatives are satisfied that this is the best approach.
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If this is so, then surgery should allow for a more definitive diagnosis. They will probably send a sample for histological evaluation. At that time everyone should have a good idea of what the tumour really is and the prognosis.

-- posted by P_Al

» tinuviel - Spinal cancer issue

In response to Spinal cancer issue posted by P_Al:

You said "surgery should allow for a more definitive diagnosis." What does that mean? I don't think it's a biopsy they're going in for, so shouldn't this surgery be occurring after the diagnosis?

You're both probably right about their not knowing precisely what to call the cancer--or maybe if it is cancer at all. But I don't know for sure if it really is the case. I guess I also know from reading everything on these cancer pages that the problem doesn't end with the surgery. So maybe that's what you mean by diagnosis? I hadn't actually thought of that though... I think I had the feeling that after the surgery everything would be over, but it is not so, is it?

-- posted by tinuviel

» P_Al - Spinal cancer issue

In response to Spinal cancer issue posted by tinuviel:
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Generally speaking, cancer surgery has several goals. These include the following.
1) To remove the entire tumour or as much as possible so as to improve the prognosis. If you can remove all of the tumour you could be effecting a cure. I beleive this is the principle the doctors are referring to when they said that they want to remove it before it progresses.
2) By removing the tumour you may also improve symptoms e.g. those due to the mass effect of its presence.
3) To provide tissue that can be examined under the microscope so as to establish the diagnosis. They are actually trying to remove the tumour while obtaining a biopsy sample - you don't want to have to do two surgeries.
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After the diagnosis is establish they will probably then recommend further therapy based on the type of tumour. These decisions will also depend on the stage, determined by all the tests.

-- posted by P_Al

» tinuviel - Spinal cancer issue

In response to Spinal cancer issue posted by P_Al:

So they remove the tumour and do the biopsy at the same time? Makes sense.

-- posted by tinuviel

» P_Al - Spinal cancer issue

In response to Spinal cancer issue posted by tinuviel:

That's the idea. I don't have much details for this particular case, but this may be what they are planning.

-- posted by P_Al

» tinuviel - Spinal cancer issue

In response to Spinal cancer issue posted by tinuviel:

My cousin was just here. (She's the mother.) It turns out that maybe our physician friends weren't as competent as we had previously believed. The technology here is probably below what it should be--which is only somewhat to their credit. He's been going to doctors, clinics, the hospital since 2003 and they've even tried to treat him for asthma.

Scoliosis it is. But this has been caused by a tumour and not by what usually causes it in other people. (I know at least two other persons with scoliosis, and it's a nuisance, but it isn't killing them.) Also, what they did was an MRI. This was done without contrast, so she's going to have to get another one done. Why didn't they do it properly the first time? MRI's are not cheap.

Meanwhile BJ isn't going to school, but he seems to be taking it pretty well. She has to try to stop him from playing too hard--which is a sign he's in good spirits.

There's something I don't get. Right now she's been told that the tumour isn't cancerous. Yet. How can they know this in light of our last discussion about going in for the biopsy at the same time as the surgery? And do tumours spontaneously go from benign to malignant?

-- posted by tinuviel

» P_Al - Spinal cancer issue

In response to Spinal cancer issue posted by tinuviel:

The puzzle is starting to come together - a spinal tumour leading to scoliosis.
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As for your question (re being told that the tumour isn't cancerous), I am not sure exactly what was said. Perhaps this was a suggestion and not a definitive answer. The best person to answer this is the doctor who is handling the case.

-- posted by P_Al

» P_Al - Spinal cancer issue

In response to Spinal cancer issue posted by tinuviel:

You had also asked about tumours becoming cancerous. Yes this does occur 'spontaneously'. It is thought that alot of this progression is triggered by genetic changes. Each successive mutation pushes the tumour further along the spectrum from benign to malignant, until eventually a cancerous tumour is present.

-- posted by P_Al

» redback - Spinal cancer issue

In response to Spinal cancer issue posted by tinuviel:

"So they remove the tumour and do the biopsy at the same time? Makes sense."
"Right now she's been told that the tumour isn't cancerous."

It's still difficult to get a clear picture. One probability is they will remove the tumour because they know it needs to come out anyway. Then, they could do a histopathology of the lump afterwards to confirm what they suspect or to get a definitive clinical diagnosis.

The biopsy is the removal of a small sample amount which may be done first pending more invasive surgery. Awaiting confirmation it's NOT cancer before proceeding further?

Hope things are still going well.

-- posted by redback