How bad is this ? and what are the chances of survival

[Nickthegreek]

Hi,

This is a report for My Wife's Mother, sadly She has cancer and getting the full information explained here is tough !!

Can anyone who knows what all this means, kindly PM Their thoughts on this report.

many Thanks

[Lannig]

I'm no doctor but as a cancer survivor myself I have taught myself quite a bit on this.

As far as I can tell this does not tell the main tumor location, it only mentions some pelvic lymph nodes being involved, not the omentum itself.

So it's pretty hard to tell anything IMO.

However I'm sure that Sheryl will provide a much more meaningful answer than mine.

Please accept all my sympathy and moral support. I know quite well what she (and you) are getting through. Fighting cancer is tough, but more and more of us make it through.

[Nickthegreek]

It is ovarian ..and thanks for Your kind words. . There is no way to describe how We feel it's a fight We can only support, knowing that people do survive such as yourself gives hope

[Sheryl]

An off-topic post trying to start a discussion about quack/conspiracy theories has been removed. Please stay on topic and keep in mind Health Forum specific rules regarding quackery.

From the limited information available here, the cancer has spread to nearby lymph nodes in the pelvis. As this report covers only lymph nodes and omentum, it is not possible to tell if it has spread further beyond this. I would hope that they will be doing some scans to check for more distant metastasis.

Depending on whether there is evidence of metastasis in other organs (liver etc), she has either Stage III or Stage IV ovarian cancer.

The 5 year survival rate for Stage III ranges from 35 - 45% depending on whether it is Stage IIIA, B or c which in turn depends on factors that I can't determine from the information provided, e.g. whether the primary tumor extended onto the fallopian tubes or uterus etc.

For Stage IV the 5 year survival is it is only around 17%, Stage IV is essentially a terminal prognosis. So making this distinction is important.

If she is stage III (i.e. scans show no evidence of metastasis to other organs) then depending on her age and overall condition, she might want to receive chemotherapy. If she is Stage IV, if it were me, I would not and would instead go straight for palliative care.

[elgordo38]

I am sorry to hear about your wife. Where would palliative care exist here in Thailand a hospital?

[Sheryl]

It's his wife's mother, not his wife.

Palliative care in Thailand is pretty weak, no hospices such as in the west and certainly no home hospice care. Pain meds can be gotten from a hospital; only oral will be provided to outpatients so when it gets to the stage where IV needed, have to be hospitalized.

There are a small number of pain/palliative care specialists in Thailand and it is worth taking the time to consult one.

[Nickthegreek]

Sheryl, this is as much as any of Us know. There was a growth over 10 cm attached to the ovaries. Thai was removed and We were told there would so be a full hystarectomy. This did not happen and from what I can ascertain it was because the cancer had spread to other places ! Not sure which. They are now saying radiation therapy 25 times and then chemo. I am most grateful for Your time and input with this. Incidentally Her leg has now blown up like a balloon ..feeling helpless and My Wife is distraught at the thought of losing Her mother sometime soon.

[Nickthegreek]

Sheryl, it transpires that no scan had been done except ultra sound ..so We are going to pay for an MRI. Is that the right route ?

[Sheryl]

Sent you a PM.

Ultrasound would usually be able to show if there was a mass in the liver which is where it would likely metastasize first

Ovarian cancer is usually diagnosed too late to be treatable, as there are usually no early symptoms.

Unable to perform planned surgery because the cancer was too extensive/had spread too far indicates a likely teminal prognosis.

Your wife's distress in understandable but it is important she not let her feelings and difficulty accepting loss of her other influence treatment choices...she needs to be strong and try to do what is best for her mother, which may be to acceot the inevitable and focus on keeping her as comfortable as possible and making the most of the time left rather than aggressively pursuing treatments that will be hard on her body and not change the outcome.