Stage 4 of gallbladder cancer

Melisa0612
New Contributor

Stage 4 of gallbladder cancer

Hi my mom is diagnosed as stage 4 of gallbladder cancer. Here's a story about her. At May 17 she had operation to remove the gallbladder since there're some gallstones and can't be done by laparoscopy. Unfortunately, at May 24, the lab showed us that she got gallbladder cancer at least stadium 2  (the poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma with signet ring cell). At May 30, she got whipple operation because doctor said it can't be done only by removed the bile duct and part of liver. From the operation, she diagnosed as stage 3b (T3, N1, M0) of gallbladder cancer. Since it's M0, she can back home and got recovery first, then have the chemotherapy. At July 22, she had her 1st chemotherapy by took the Xeloda (3 morning, 3 evening) in 2 weeks, have a break 1 week, and take the blood test, then send the result to Singapore. If doctor says continue, she can continue the 2nd cycle. Every 2 cycle she had, she need to go back to Singapore. Repeat this until 8 cycles. Sadly, she has never been better since the operation was done. She still feel the pain, loss appetite, and many more. When she was going to cycle 6, suddenly her pain got worse, and we flied to Singapore. At November 12,  she had CT and PET Scan, and it showed that the cancer already spreads to lymph nodes. The doctor said she can’t be cured and all she can do is only control the cell with the chemotherapy (gemcitabine-based combination with TS-1 T20). 

 

My question is.. is there any better treatment for her? 

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Frostling
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Re: Stage 4 of gallbladder cancer

If her cancer has the right proteins - she may be a candidate for immunotherapy but do not get your hopes up as this is a rather new area of cancer treatment. “The Breakthrough” is a good book on the background of immunotherapy. In the meantime - it might be better to ask the oncologist for medicine to help improve quality of life so that she’s in less pain. I’m so sorry for you and your mother.
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