Hi everyone, I was diagnosed with stage three lung cancer eighteen months ago. I had surgery to remove my right lower lobe and lymph nodes followed by chemotherapy. Unfortunately I had to stop chemo after two treatments as my kidneys were at risk of failure. In February there was a new tumour in my right lung and a small tumour was found in my pelvis, I started palliative Pembrolizumab immunotherapy in April which is having a positive effect on the main tumour. After my visit to the oncologist last week I was told there is a new primary tumour in my left lung and I might need radiotherapy. I can’t understood how some tumours are reacting positively to treatment and then suddenly a new primary tumour appears.
Its one step forward and two steps back with this disease?
Hi Veronica 23 I am sorry to hear this. I am as confused as you about that. Is it because the new tumours cells are slightly different to the other tumour? I wonder if your oncologist is able to explain that to you.
I am sorry that you may now have to have radiotherapy, but hopefully that will sort this new tumour out. I have heard of people having radiotherapy to kick start the immunotherapy, it somehow gives the immunotherapy that extra push that it needs.
Let us know how you get on.
Hi Veronica,
Sorry to read all this - what a way to find yourself in. So how come you're not well on the way to being cured if Keytruda can do the business on your tumours? It's more complicated than that...
Just as your primary tumour kicked off with a mutation in your cells more mutations can follow on inside that cancer and then spread as it struggles against the immunotherapy. It's like evolution - survival of the fittest tumour. That's why the treatment is working on one but didn't on the next. You'll be discussing this with your oncologist but I'd expect another treatment to get layered on top of the Pembrolizumab and it sounds like they're going with radiotherapy.
I think of it as an evil little sod actively plotting my demise - Keytruda threw a spanner in its works so it figured out another mutation to get me with. The good news for me was that by the time cancer had got its act together for round two the MDT guys figured I was was now down from stage 4 to stage 1 and OK for surgery. Sounds like you're now in the same place I was last year, and like me your doctors still have a few more cards up their sleeve.
Keytruda kept me going for 5 years. I used that time to hit the gym and trained like a demon - just to get me in the best possible shape to survive major surgery, which can be no joke past age 70. (Strangest side effect of cancer ever - I'm a beach-body ready geriatric 
.)
kind regards
Steve
