The bad news continues and gets worse

For those of my readers who have had the opportunity to read these messages and to have been with me on the journey through the nightmare of oesophageal cancer I am afraid I have some more bad news about me to report.

The visit to the oncologist has produced what I would certainly call the worst possible news - he has taken a look at the CT scan, the whole body bone scan and the blood reports and has come in with a verdict.

He has indicated that I have not one but two areas of problem one at the top of my lungs - the apex where the mass (which I thought had been removed both surgically and also with the use of chemo and radio therapy) is back. On top of this there appears to be some additional tumour in the right lung which is already 22 mm in size and no doubt growing as we speak.

While my oncologist is consulting with colleagues about the scans and what if anything can be done he is of the view that this is really the end of the line and that even with treatment the likelihood of anything other than palliative treatment is remote and when really pushed he eventually came out and said that the average life span for people in my situation is less than a year. So since I have already managed to convince the powers that be that I am at the wrong end of ONE bell curve I suspect that this could mean anything from days to weeks to a few months and only with exceptional good luck and good management close to the 'less than a year' he is envisaging.

I am not sure how anyone else is likely to react to this news - I for one am staggered!

I am staggered that the growth in the mass which is undocumented in the place where I had an operation not all that long ago and where I had treatment to remove residual cells has not worked - apparently. I am even more staggered that there is a new mass in the middle of my right lung.

What amazes me I guess is how it is possible to determine so precisely that what I have are related to me pre-existing condition when for example the blood tests which were taken AFTER the CT and the Bone scan do not show the usual markers for cancer.

Being told that biopsies are really not needed and/or very risky is also somewhat unsettling and I must confess to finding myself in the stages of bereavement that Kubler Ross talks about - I am in both the denial and the anger stage at present. I am angry that I do not seem to be able to get access to advice about all of the options that are possibly available to me together of course with an outline of the potential risks and benefits and costs and angry that I have not had an explanation of what is possible - apart from the bleeding obvious which is of course to have chemo therapy and hope that there is a another period of remission or possibly treating one or the other or both of the sites with radio and chemotherapy or simply heading off to oblivion!

I guess from the doctors' points of view it is early days yet and no doubt they have to collect their collective wisdom and see what if anything they can do. In the interim I guess all that is left for me to do is to start with serious bending exercises so that I at least try to get supple enough to kiss my own backside goodbye.

Meanwhile - so as not to get too maudlin about the news to date I am of course still going for walks around the lake where I got some piece of mind on the last few occasions when I received bad news. This has a multipurpose basis - I get exercise to build up the body as far as possible and I get to contemplate nature I also get to see the seasons change and so get my mind off my own troubles and just marvel at what is around me. I also have time to think and to reason and hopefully to come up with some ideas on how I would like to spend what time I have left - at present with what feels like good health even though it is apparently only good on the surface.

Anyway, as the days pass I suspect that more "stuff" will be revealed and as a faithful recorder of events I will bring you the good bad and unvarnished news.

Some BAD news for a change

I am afraid that I have some sad news for those of my readers who are still interested in what is happening with my cancer situation.

A recent CT scan has revealed a new area of problem in the right lung. With some bone scans and some blood tests I will soon have the news about whether it has spread or not and then next week I will be finding out what if anything the doctors can DO about it this time.

Stay tuned - I suspect we will be in a for a bumpy ride!

Vitamin A Inhibitors

What an interesting piece of research:

to be found at:
http://www.mrc.ac.uk/consumption/groups/public/documents/content/mrc003468.pdf

Wednesday 17 January 2007

Scientists have delved into the underlying structure of the cells that line the gullet and found a way to potentially prevent a type of cancer of the oesophagus. The scientists from the MRC Cancer Cell Unit are hoping their new found understanding of the cellular origin of the cause of oesophageal adenocarcinoma will help pave the way to new therapies which could even prevent the cancer developing.

Oesophageal adenocarcinoma is on the rise in the UK and throughout the western world, eight-fold in the last 30 years. It develops from pre-existing abnormalities in the lining of the oesophagus, a condition called Barrett’s oesophagus. This condition causes the scaly lining of the oesophagus to be replaced by a glandular lining, like that normally found in the stomach or intestine.

Up until now the nature and origin of the cell change which causes Barrett’s had not been known. Now, a team of scientists led by Dr Rebecca Fitzgerald has found that treating the normal scaly tissue with vitamin A provokes this change to the Barrett’s lining tissue.

Furthermore they have shown that this change occurs below the top layer of the cell and is still visible even when that layer is removed.

When the scientists later treated the altered tissue with vitamin A inhibitors, they found the cells reverted back to their previous state.

Dr Rebecca Fitzgerald said:
“We are very excited about these findings. Vitamin A inhibitors could allow us to reverse Barrett’s oesophagus which would prevent the lesions it provokes from causing oesophageal adenocarcinoma.”

“Until now it had been thought the changes to the cells in the oesophageal lining was limited to the top layer of those cells, the epithelium. This research shows that the change is actually more fundamental. This ties in with recent work in many cancer areas which suggests that we have neglected the cell environment for too long in our thinking about cancer.”

The findings are published in GUT and will be discussed at the Barrett’s Oseophagus National Symposium on Wednesday 17th January 2007.