Hello everyone! I am new to this forum! My mom is 60 in Calif. and has Stage IV base of tongue cancer. She went to UCSF and her local cancer doctors in the Napa area. The 3 mos. of chemo/radiation never killed the cancer but it shrunk. She just had 8 weeks of Erbitux and feels like it is growing [neck stiff, feels larger]. Doc wants her to go on Carboplatin. She is not a clinical trial candidate due to secondary primary [lung cancer]. She's not interested in alternative medicine - wants to stick to standard care but it seems there's not much they can do for her but focus on palliation. Anyone else in this same boat? Mom said she is not ready to die! They say the cancer has invaded the muscle, is around the carotid, etc. but has not given her a timeline. This is aweful. Thanks everyone!

I would get your mom to a CCC to make sure she is getting the best possible treatment advice.

http://www.oralcancerfoundation.org/resources/cancer_centers.htm

Colleen

I agree with David. And as to your specific question: I had carboplatin after my stage IV base of tongue cancer was not wiped out by either the radiation or Erbitux either and I was originally told my tumor was "inoperable" (in the sense they could get it out but unclear if they could put me back together). So you might ask about surgery again as they changed their mind rather than let me die.
Your mom and I are contemporaries so it's not surprising she still wants to fight this. It's true that salvage surgery does really diminish quality of life, but again, check with a CCC. I ended up needing even more radiation than "maximum" even after the surgery but I am still here. I have found that the CCC tumor board does indeed change its mind about surgery and additional radiation when the alternative is worse.
so sorry you have to worry about this. At least your mom has you to be so involved. Finally, she is certainly not too old to join OCF herself and join our little family.
charm

Since your Mom has gone to UCSF, she has been to a major NCI designated CCC, but I would still suggest she get a second opinion from another large Cancer Center.

I don't believe there is another NCI designed CCC in the bay area, but I know in California we do have some excellent large Cancer Centers that are affiliated with NCI designated CCC's or CC's and may be worth consideration.

This is a link to another resource locater:
http://www.cancer.org/asp/search/ftc/ftc_global.asp

If you don't want to travel far, Stanford is a member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, a group of 21 leading cancer centers across the country.

NCCN annually publishes Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology for all types of cancer, representing the the latest treatment protocols.

(UCSF is part of this group as well.)

Thanks for the quick response! Yes, maybe UC Davis / Stanford would be a good choice. She has a tough time going to San Francisco [only support is her husband who had a stroke] and I am in Minnesota...the geographics make it tough. But the drive from Napa area to Sacramento is a bit easier. And to Old Frack what an experience you have been through. I did take Mom to the Mayo Clinic here in MN - they said not resectable also but we are still hoping. Mom is only 60! She has "dial up" and is looking into high speed internet so she can get active on the forum. Thanks!

There is a second list of centers of the top in the US on the OCF resources page listed in the Best hospitals link http://health.usnews.com/health/best-hospitals/cancer-hospital-rankings/