Teratoma in a vital organ, what next?

[trishd]

Our son was diagnosed 06/14/05, orchiectomy, 3 rounds of BEP, RPLD at IU, 2 more rounds of EP because traces of embryonic cell found. Last chemo round completed in February 06. Things seemed to be on the mend. 3 weeks ago at checkup spots seen in both lungs. Rescanned last Friday, June 16th, and spots are larger and there are more of them. Most likely teratoma because markers are normal. Results will be sent to Einhorn and we are waiting. What can be done for teratoma inside the lungs?

[dadmo]

trishd:
Welcome to the forum. We recently had another member with lung spots and he had his removed surgically. You may want to check the thread by Vinny for more information. Also at the present we have one members son (drom) who has spots on both lungs that need to be removed. I know haow much this stinks but you afre not alone in this. My son also has spots, which are unchanged since chemo, and it worries our family but we are comforted by the fact that it can be taken care of.

[rosewoodblues]

Trish,

I am sorry to have to say welcome however, I am glad you are here. I was diagnosed with TC that was 90% teratoma / 10% Embrional Carcinoma myself. The long and the short of Teratoma as it was explained to me by my doctor was that the only way to treat it was with surgery. Teratoma has little to absolutely no response to chemo since it is a malignant and/or benign tumor. This means the shrink wil be virtually nil and hence surgery is the only answer.
Be sure to talk directly to the doctor about this as the blood marker levels will give a good picture of what it is doing, along with CT scans of course.
It was also explained to me that the Teratoma (if active) will double in size in approximately a 10 day period so don't panic if your doctor seems to want to move fast!

peace and love,
ken;