can definitely state that my dad didn't get a tailored program for his mets...he got the trial that's aimed at stopping/shrinking mets. and that trial recommendation was made BEFORE his biopsy, they of course waited until it was confirmed OC mets (ruling out other cancers) before he started the trial. great oncologist and CCC, but that's what got me looking and preparing for plan B to begin with, in the event the trial doesn't work. i don't want to link details from here as we're asked not to, but happy to pm.

You might get a "blanket approach" at your local hospital based on a 20 year old treatment protocol. This is why we always recommend getting treatment at a comprehensive cancer center, where a coordinated medical team will put together a treatment plan based on the most recent knowledge and clinical trials. The NCCN oncology practice guidelines are just that- guidelines. A knowledgeable medical team will design a unique treatment protocol for the patient.

All diseases are hit and miss, in reality, since we all respond differently to treatment, medications, etc. Watch a few episodes of "House" and you will get a glimpse of the process of elimination (exaggerated for dramatic effect of course). Add genetic propensity, health habits, etc., as Cheryl previously mentioned.

Caco - no need to PM me, I think this would be of interest to all here.

I keep an eye on Science Daily: it aggregates research from a fairly wide variety of sources. Progress is being made on personalized treatment, but it's an incredibly complex subject. On an individual level, a disease is hit and miss - but as knowledge increases, the PATTERN of disease (and patient genetics, health, etc.) that will respond well to a particular treatment becomes better defined.

A note on the NCCN guessline - if you read them closely, you will see that there are varying levels of agreement on the protocol options.

googling "some success seen with personalized cancer treatment" will take you to a reuter's article. i've been talking with people who have had this type of testing, the common denominator being that they are alive.

I seriously say go for it. it cannot hurt him if there is no interruption in his regular treatment (though surgery - biopsy has its own risks) - and it may help him. If all hey are offering is palliative care - do it. good luck!

there is a treatment interruption (more of a delay than an interruption) in that the biopsy needs to be done two weeks after the end of a treatment phase. for palliative treatment this means waiting until the current treatment phase is no longer working/effective. so his biopsy would 1) need to be done 2 weeks after a completed treatment, and 2) be cultured withing 24 hours of the actual biopsy.

Okay that sucks since it would be good for them to do it now while it's localized... Hard decision. Hugs! And good luck.

How often are they going to monitor the success of the palliative treatments? If it doesn't look like it's working, can you take two weeks off and then opt for the personalized treatment? It would be hard to opt for palliation if there's a chance for something better.

spot on sandy...that's what i'm thinking. his first phase ends next week, scans in jan. want to get through holidays before i drop this on him.

I hope he gets the treatment he needs in order to be cancer free.

Last year, when we got the diagnosis at the beginning of December and staging a couple of days before Christmas, I was determined to put all things cancer into a box and store it on a shelf until after January 1st. It made for a nicer holiday.

I figured that wringing my hands and obsessively researching SCC-HN wasn't going to do any of us any good until we went in for the next item on the cancer Honey-Do List after the first of the year. I was determined to make it the very best holiday for J and the boys...and that meant that cancer needed to become invisible and silent. I hope you can get a reprieve from having to deal with it, at least for now, and just enjoy your holidays.

I hope you and your entire family have a wonderful Christmas filled with great fun, lots of laughs and abundant love as well as lots of things to add to your mental scrapbook.

Sending hugs to you and Pop.

Sandy
xoxox