2nd recurrence seminoma seems likely

[SamanthaS]

I have followed this thread, Brendan, and wishing you best of luck. Please post any update here. We are rooting for you!

[Maris]

I'm following your story since 2021 cause my hb was on chemo at the same time. Please post any update, we are rooting for you! Wishing you a best luck!

[BrendanF]

Thank you Mike, SamanthaS and Maris. Sorry for the silence. I had the radiation treatments in the esophagus and right subclavicular area in the first half of October '22. I was going in early in the morning and working afterwards many of the days. I don't recall exactly how many treatments it was, I think I stopped at the 13th treatment which was on a Fri. Up until that point the effects were very minor, some fatigue and minor pain in the esophagus when eating. But the night after the lasr treatment the esophagitis hit. Terrible pain. I wasn't able to eat anything except scrambled eggs with a lot of difficulty and pain. I was admitted to the hospital for a 5 days and out of work for a while, lost weight. Since then I've had 2 CT scans and the next one is scheduled for early June. It looks good so far, although there has been some radiation effects to the lungs, and the esophagitis remains. It's nothing like what it was immediately post-treatment. I eat normally and occasionally have some mild difficulty swallowing certain foods.

Hopefully this turns out to be a valid alternative to TIP in the long term. It's hard to say, though I've preserved what I have of my hearing and career by going this route which was a major concern.

[Mike]

Thanks for the update and glad to hear that things are improving since that last treatment. Treatments are definitely not easy, but definitely worth it, once they are over.

Cheers to a great check up in June and looking forward to more updates.

Mike

[Maris]

Thanks for update Brendan, obviously it wasn't easy treatment but it is good to know that it is worth it. Best wishes with next chekups!

[BrendanF]

I had another CT scan this week. There are a couple unchanged nodes hilar and precaval ~ 1-1.6 cm and some ‘evolving’ effects of radiation to the lungs. Esophagitis remains the same. So far so good.

[Mike]

I am not sure that a relapse after adjuvant carboplatin therapy would be considered a late relapse vs. after having received full-dose BEPx3/EPx4. The carboplatin does seem to push the relapse window further down the time line than vs. just active surveillance. But, I think that patients receiving carboplatin adjuvant therapy would be considered chemo naive.

If there is a late relapse, surgery upfront vs chemo upfront dies seem to be preferred, if possible.

Mike

[BrendanF]

Testosterone is back to the level expected when seminoma is not in the picture. It had been elevated since last summer and was what caused suspicion of the latest recurrence.