I had T3n1 tumer on my mouth, about 6-years I was treated with chemo and Radiation Now 6 six years later, I have a new tumer on the foot of my mouth. I am being treated with Chemo 3 dose, cisplatin. I Had Radiation before, can I be treated with Radiation again.
The doctor states that I cant have Radiation again, and he is thinking of surgery. What is the best obtion. the tumer is now .05cm it was 1.5cm.

MarcFran

Just logging into a month old post with a brand new question about yourself is NOT going to get any answers. In fact as you can see, it has generated yet another response to the original poster despite the fact that she has never posted again.

Please do your own post in the Introduce yourself forum to get a real answer. I know it's hard for non internet savvy patients to understand the basic protocols of forums but you will get a better answer if you open your own post

But just in case you are like the original poster - here is my answer: YES you can have radiation again. I did and it is the reason I am alive even though I had the "maximum" radiation the first time. Plus since your cancer has come back, SURGERY is probably a good idea also. Although I avoided surgery the first time around, when my cancer came back I did have to have surgery to stay alive.

Again, please post a new thread with your issues. otherwise, most OCF members will just see this and answer the orginal poster's thread as has already happened.

Keep the Faith
Charm

Marcfran, Im sorry you are facing a recurrence. Ive gone thru OC 3 times, so you see it can be done. I have had my 2 recurrences treated with surgery alone. While some people like Charm can do radiation twice, not everyone is able to get radiation again. Im sure there are many guidelines in determining which course of action will work best. Going to get checked out at a cancer center is the wisest decision. Make sure you go for a second opinion it could mean all the difference!



(Charm, I moved this to its own seperate thread so it gets more attention)

Hi MarcFran,
I've also gone through radiation and chemo twice. It is not without risks, but it can be done. My second lot of radiation was done after 2 partial glossectomies (the 2nd to get clear margins) and then further surgery to remove or reduce the size of half a dozen affected nodes which popped up bilaterally on my neck and jaw. I was initially told it was inoperable but the team at my CCC subsequently decided on a combination of surgery, chemo and radiation. I had to sign disclaimers in relation to potential side effects of excessive radiation, which included a slight risk of quadraplegia, amongst a host of others, but 2 years later I'm still here (and fully mobile) and happy to be alive!!
I have a permanent PEG tube but can tolerate some thickened fluids orally. My sense of taste is very compromised and probably because of this I don't miss eating - in fact using my PEG is also far quicker and easier than swallowing for me. Without the second radiotherapy and chemo treatments I have no doubt that I wouldn't be writing this today.
My RO did say that surgery was necessary before treatment began because my tumours were too large for radiation and chemo alone to be effective. Sounds like yours may have already shrunk enough for radiation and chemo alone to be effective. What you will need to weigh up is quality of life (QOL) if you have surgery alone as opposed to radiation and chemo. It may be that surgery will leave you with a better QOL outcome than radiation/chemo, but you would have to ask those questions of your treating team. Good Luck!