I wonder if anyone can help here. I have just had the result of my CT scan (I have secondaries to the bone currently - and am on Herceptin & Pamidronate). It seems they have found an enlarged lymph node in the porta hepatis and some smaller ones on the free edge of the lesser omentum. Greek to you? Me too. I do know they are near the liver, but I am not really sure of the significance of them. They have had their meeting and have decided on an endoscopy as the first line of response. I am just not sure whether in the interim this could all wend it’s way to the liver or what. Any explanation would be helpful…
Sorry greek to me too. Unable to help, but thought would bump post up.
Take care
Thanks guys - we all seem to be in the same boat!
sorry greek to me too hope someone more knowledgable comes along to help!
Sue xx
Have just googled it - sounds like the porta hepatis is a groove on the underneath, outside, of the liver, where lots of vessels etc enter the liver. These include portal vein, part of hepatic artery, nerves, ducts and lymph nodes. The lesser omentum is a part of your peritoneum - a membrane that forms the lining of your abdominal cavity.
Basically I think they’re saying the lymph nodes in this area are inflamed, so it’s not actually in your liver tissue. I guess an endoscopy is the least invasive way of taking a look at that area from inside.
Hope this helps and you soon get clear answers.
Jacquie
Just heard today from my BCN that my onc i not going to recommend endoscopy. Having looked again at the scan he thinks that it is in such a position that a endoscopy won’t tell them anything. They just want to watch it and scan again in 3 months. They have finite tools in their tool box and they don’t want to use any chemo options while I am well. Although I am having some gastric problems - it’s not anything in terms of discomfort that I cannot cope with.
I do understand that if I use up one of my chemo options now, I may not be able to use it again for 2 years, but it does scare the living daylights out of me, that we are just sitting and watching it grow. Due to see onc on Thurs to discuss this, any thoughts anybody?
Hi Celeste,
You are bound to worry about leaving it alone for three months. It seems absolutely the wrong thing to do, doesn’t it? but they like to take a longer term view and think about what options there are and what will be of most benefit in the long run. It will be a hard wait, no doubt about it.
Really hope they are clear and reassuring on Thurs, and you come away feeling happier
love Jacquie x
Thanks Jacqui, I hope I am reassured when I see onc on Thursday too. However, I think basically I may have completely understood the nature of treatment of secondaries. I assumed that if they found something early, they would zap it quickly. However this whole notion of timing your chemotherapy until such time as the creeping cancer has made me unwell, is not something, - although I suppose it’s quite obvious, - which had occured to me before.
Now trying to sort my finances out to see if we can have the big holiday sooner than planned. I had rather put the brakes on, what with the credit crunch an’ all.
Celeste,
I understand where you are coming from. My last scan showed that liver tumours ‘are the same size but look different to before’ so have to wait until the next scan to see what this is about. While this is something else to worry about (but I really am trying not to) I don’t think the three month wait will make much difference to treatment options or effectiveness. The anxiety is the worst thing facing you at present and I hope your onc can do something to allay your fears in the meantime.
Jenny
x
Hi Celeste, I have a similar thing going on right now. I came off taxotere and avastin in June and everything was stable until about three weeks ago when a scan showed “very early progression” in two lymph nodes - one in the sub carinal area and one mammary one. I’ve been put onto Femara for now and they are going to monitor the two lymph nodes with a view to giving me chemo if the Femara does not stabilise things.
I find I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand every instinct tells me to zap the little b+ggers as soon as possible. On the other, I really, really don’t want to go back onto chemo just yet and, like you, want to draw the chemo out as long as possible so that I don’t run out of options too soon, and so that I may be able to have recycled chemo when the time comes.
I guess it is a balancing act.
In my case, I know that my tumours can grow quite quickly. It’s worrying to think that they might simply take over if they are allowed to grow without any effective holding mechanism. But we have recently noticed that my tumour markers seem to be providing an indication whenever there is some progression. They have never been reliable before, but recently the rises and drops in my tumour markers have gone along with what we can actually see going on on the scans. So if my tumour markers were to continue rising I think we would abandon the Femara pretty quickly and go onto chemo.
Deirdre
Unfortunately Deidre I cannot have femara. Although I was er+ and pr+ when I first got bc, when my secondaries came along I became er- and pr-. I think that rules me out from all aromatase inhibitors. By the way on my last post, I mean’t to say, I totally MISunderstood the nature of treatment of secondaries!. My tumor markers at this stage don’t seem to be an indicator at this stage - who knows , it could be nothing.