Adenocarcinoma

tsmom · New User Joined: 07 Jan 2008 Posts: 5

I have an 18 year old with this diagnosis as of Nov 11, 2007. Does anyone have any information regarding this type of cancer? He is in his final stages but there is no case mentioned in any medical journals and the doctors would like it if I could find a similar case. There are many older fellows with this diagnosis. My son has tumors in the lining that surrounds the organs, several lesions on the liver and one nodule in a lung. All organs are functioning properly and they checked out via upper GI and lower GI and didn't find its origin. Abdomen cavity has been drained twice because tumors secreet fluid. At this point they said it doesn't matter because there is too much to be operable. We are now on our third wave of chemo. If anyone has anything they could add, please do.
Rita

Frenchguy · New User Joined: 09 Apr 2008 Posts: 2

Rita,

I'm sorry to hear about your son. It has to be quite a shock. I can relate, as my dad was just diagnosed last week with "adenocarcinoma". According to an American Cancer Society information packet, that simply means "cancers of glandular cells that can develop in several organs of the body." It could be a number of organs; in my dad's case, that diagnosis was further clarified as "cholangiocarcinoma", or a form of bile duct cancer. My dad also has "innumerable" lesions on his liver, and a tumor of unknown origin that is pushing up against his stomach. He is probably at a stage III or IV, and as he is severerely jaundiced, they have not started any chemo or radiation therapy yet.

I realize you posted this three months ago, but if this information is of any help to you, I'm grateful.

God Bless,

Art

brainman · Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2008 4:11 pm Post subject: Re: Adenocarcinoma

Rita, I am so very sorry about your son's cancer. As Frenchguy said, adenocarcinomas are glandular in nature... any organ that has or is glandular in nature can be a source for a adenocarcinoma. Often, they are inoperable by the time they are diagnosed so chemotherapy is the only option. I am sorry to hear that he has already had three rounds of chemo. Do you mean three cycles of the same chemo or three different chemotherapy agents?

You and your son are in my thoughts and prayers.
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tsmom · New User Joined: 07 Jan 2008 Posts: 5

Hello Frenchguy, I would like to tell you what I know and maybe I can help you. My son, as you know was diagnosed on Nov 11, 2007 and he had three cycles of three combined drugs. This is considered Aggressive Chemo. Taxol, Avastin and Carboplatin. This was followed with a shot of Neulasta to improve his immune system since this type of chemo is very harsh. During this time, he lost 50+ pounds with nausea and pain that were uncontrollable through prescriptive drugs. After these rounds a CT scan was done and the cancer had in fact advanced. This chemo treatment was unsuccessful. The doctors suggested a lesser toxic chemo. I read between the lines and thought this was their way of having him live a better quality of life for what ever he has left. They are on his fourth (3X a month) round of Gemcitabine. The CT scan after the second was showing a ever so slight decrease of the tumors. I would suggest that you have your dad start out with this process. I know people react differently to chemo but if you could first try this one before you try the harder one, would be better for your dad. The prognosis was not looking good at the beginning. We were told perhaps weeks and that there has never been anyone in recission of this cancer. We are now on 5 months and my son is eating, talking and getting out from time to time. He is not experiencing nausea or pain. He does have some cramping of a hand but we think it is the side effect of toxins in his body on a weekly basis. From your email it looks like they found where it's origin. They also thought that my son had some type of mass near his stomach. But this did not hold true after fluid was drained out from his abdomen cavity. It looks like fluid trapped under membrane made it look like he had one there but didn't. He has tumors all over the lining that covers organs, innumerable on the liver and one nodule in a lung. As for my son, they have no clue and it doesn't seem to be important at this time. I was to understand that the lesions on the liver were the most critical to decrease. I hope this helps and please do send me information from time to time to see if we can't compare notes to help eachother. God Bless your father! T's mom

Frenchguy · New User Joined: 09 Apr 2008 Posts: 2

Hello again, T's Mom,

I'm so glad to hear that your son is comfortable, and relatively stable.
I want to give you an update now on my dad, who isn't doing well at all. I mentioned he was diagnosed with bile duct cancer with metastases to the liver just earlier this month (about 3 weeks ago, actually). He is very jaundiced, and is probably at a stage IV at this point. The doctors did a liver biopsy and an ERCP, at which time they were able to put a stent in, to help relieve some of the blockage in his bile duct. Before the stent, he was in a lot of pain (abdominal cramping, to the point where he could not eat). Since then, he's had very little pain, but his condition has deteriorated.
Last week, we were looking to take him out to Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, but there were no beds available. Subsequently, mom made the decision to keep him at home, and elect home hospice care. We brought dad home on Monday, and he's comfortable.
Dad's liver and kidneys are failing rapidly, and he's now going through paraneoplastic syndrome, a common effect of liver failure. Essentially, his liver failure is causing massive chemical imbalances in his body that are causing his immune system to go haywire, and he's dilusional, having hallucinations, and in and out of consciousness.
We have dad on several meds, to include a very interesting topical cream - a compound of several prescriptions abbreviated "ABHRP" (and which the nurses call "abracadabra cream" for short). The compound is a combination of Ativan, Benadryl, Haldol, Reglan and Phenergen. It's essentially a palliative treatment (comfort medicine) used to control "the big three" -- pain, nausea and anxiety in hospice patients. The Ativan and Haldol are for anxiety, and the Benadryl, Phenergan and Reglan are for pain and nausea. In combination, it works very well to keep dad comfortable, if nothing else.
The cream is applied topically, anywhere where it can be absorbed into the skin, near a good circulatory point. The nurse suggested in the arm pit, and that's worked well so far. Because it's a topical medicine, we wear gloves when applying it.
I'm not sure what else is left to do for dad, so it's now just a matter of spending quality time with him, and keeping him comfortable. He still has periods of lucidity throughout the day, where he will talk, eat (on his own) and be able to focus fairly well, so we are grateful for the time we have, and that he's not in any pain, for the most part.
I'll keep you posted on how he does.
Best of luck to you and your son, and God Bless!
Frenchguy

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