Eshwar,

I am very sorry to hear the news. I am currently battling lymph tumor in same area that has wrapped around carotid. I am ending week 6 of chemo and radiation as surgery is not an option when the carotid is involved. I may have a slight chance at surviving even if the radiation does not kill the whole tumor but only if it moves off the carotid and surgery can remove the rest (a long shot at best).

The news you just received is the news I fear the most. I can still feel my tumor with only one week of treatment left so I am a bit worried even though I know the rads keep working for three more weeks after treatment. If your father has not received rads specific to this area it may be an option. I received a full dose to my original site (soft palet) two years ago and am getting a full dose to this area (70gy) this time around. It is rare they do this but my docs at U of M have 82 cases of re-radiation to tumors that have encapsulated the carotid and some success with it (33-50% survival rate). I'll have to wait to march to get the PET to see if the radiation killed the tumor or if not, the tumor has moved away from the carotid to allow surgery.

I don't know if your dad would be a candidate for further radiation, but you may want to have your doctors� check with U of M and see what they have experienced in cases like this.

My prayers are with you and your father today.

Best,