About P. Ravi Sarma <B>MD</B> Expertise I am board certified in Internal Medicine, Hematology, Medical Oncology and Geriatrics. I was on the faculty of Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta from 1979 to 1995, holding the position of Associate Professor of Medicine (Hematology and Oncology) at the univerisity and Associate Professor of Human Oncology at the Winship Cancer Center at the time of my leaving Emory.I have been in private practice since 1995 in Metro Atlanta area in Gwinnett county. Our group consists of four oncologists, with three offices in Gwinnett County, Ga.
Experience worked on and published several papers in the area of clinical oncology.
Question My father (64 yrs.) was diagnosed 7/03 with NSCLC. He had pre-surgical Chemo and radiation. Wonderful Thoracic surgeon removed left lobe in 11/03. He had 3-4 post surgical rounds of chemo and in early April he was given a clean bill of health. Early May he had a stroke like episode and went to the ER. MRI revealed brain tumors (more than a dozen).
We searched for clinical trials in our area and he did not qualify for what was avaliable. Gamma knife was ruled out for some reason (quantity?). He now is getting WBRT. I know his prognosis is not good, but is there anything else out there that we need to try? Would an earlier brain MRI given him a better prognosis (3-6 months)?What can we do to get more time yet quality of life? He is very mobile and wants to live.
Answer It is unfortunate (but not uncommon) that your father did very well with initial treatments, and yet developed many cancer spots in the brain. Gamma knife is used when there are 1 or few spots (not for more than a dozen)
Unfortunately there are no good chemotherapy drugs or other biologically active treatments, once cancer gets to the brain. You may want to contact places like the MD Anderson tumor Institute in Houston, Texas and see if they have any clinical trials. After an initial visit and enrollment in the trial, his oncologist can administer the treatments in his home town.
