Hi Lisa,

Unfortunately, there is no way to know what the best treatment is for your aunt. Radiation would be the obvious choice, but as gnelson has pointed out, surgery sometimes is the right choice. Chemo generally is not a viable choice, but if the cancer is truly a fast growing variety, it might just be the ticket.

If you have read any of my posts, you know my daughter is currently undergoing chemo for the recurrence of her tongue cancer. Most of her oncologists didn't really expect the chemo to work, but it is. The tumors are shrinking. I'm not going to paint a rosy picture and tell you that everything is great and the chemo is working miracles. It could stop working tomorrow and we'll be back to square one. But in Heather's case, it was the only treatment available. She didn't have a choice. The only reason it was thought that the chemo might work was because the cancer was fast growing, but it was still a long shot.

Your aunt does have a choice and she needs to ask the doctors to explain all her options. Ask them why they think radiation is the best treatment. And get a second opinion. It would be good to talk to a radiation onc., a surgeon and a chemo onc. Listen to all the advantages and disadvantages, then make the decision.

Rainbows & hugs,
Rosie

P.S. I agree with Brian about the biopsy. 6 weeks is a ridiculously long time for biopsy results. We had Heather's results within a few days. Someone obviously dropped the ball on this and I think you should think about some sort of legal action. But, as he said, that is for later. The important thing now is to get treatment started and beat this cancer!