|
Experts recognize some 20 varieties of sarcoma, all of which originate
in the connective tissue or muscle. Such tumors thus differ from
the common solid tumors of the lung, colon breast or pancreas, that
form in the epithelial lining of organs, or the immunological malignancies
such as leukemia or lymphoma that affect the white blood cells.
Sarcomas are rare, accounting for only 8800 cases in the United
States in 2004. (1) Sixty percent appear first in the extremities
and when localized, surgery can be curative. Once metastatic this
cancer type - notoriously resistant to chemotherapy and radiation
- usually proves fatal within a year.
Patient IG: A 12+ Year Survivor
Patient IG is a 58-year old woman who in the summer of 1993 first
noticed a mass above her right ear. After the lesion became chronically
irritated by her eyeglass frames, in August 1993 she opted to have
it removed. The nodule, measuring about 1 cm in diameter, was found
consistent with “malignant neoplasm, probably metastatic.” The slides
were sent for review at the Mayo Clinic, where the pathologist classified
the cancer as an epithelioid sarcoma. A subsequent third review
of the slides confirmed the diagnosis of epithelioid sarcoma.
The patient then underwent a metastatic work-up. A bone scan in
September 1993 revealed:
“Single abnormal focus of uptake in the left occipital-parietal
region, worrisome for metastatic neoplasm.”
A skull series the same day showed a “9 mm geographic lucency in
the left occipital bone, possibly representing a calvarial metastasis.”
The report of a CT scan of the head a week later stated:
“Images of the skull demonstrated one small lytic area…in the
left occipital bone…It measures under a centimeter in size. It
is in the medullary space of the bone but appears to affect the
cortex also. No soft tissue component is noted.”
A CT scan of the neck and chest showed a probable right thyroid
cyst, and two areas of decreased attenuation in the liver compatible
with either cysts or metastatic disease.
IG then met with a head and neck surgeon, who proposed wide excision
with removal of much of her jaw followed by reconstruction. But
when she was told she most likely would die of her disease anyway,
she refused surgery. After investigating alternative approaches
to cancer, she learned of our therapy and consulted with Dr. Isaacs
in late September 1993. She thereafter followed her program diligently.
In June 1994, nine months after she began her nutritional regimen,
she noticed a lump above her right ear in the same location as the
original tumor. The nodule stabilized for two years, before it was
resected in August 1996. The pathology report describes once again
an epithelioid sarcoma. After Dr. Isaacs made some adjustments in
the protocol, IG continued her therapy faithfully as before.
Over the years, IG has been very compliant with her regimen, and
enjoyed improvement in her overall energy and sense of well being.
Since the surgery of 1996, the disease has not recurred. When last
seen by Dr. Isaacs in August 2006 she was in good health with no
visible evidence of cancer.
Epithelioid sarcomas tend to be fairly aggressive. If localized,
as with most sarcomas, surgery can be curative, but once metastatic,
survival is usually measured in months. A review of epitheloid sarcomas
(2) reported that “Median post-distant metastasis survival was 8
months.”
We don’t think the lesion that appeared after she began her therapy
indicates global treatment failure. As mentioned previously, we
find at times that tumors will recur in areas of prior surgery,
though nowhere else. We suspect that in areas of such tissue disruption,
the resulting fibrosis and scarification compromise blood supply
to the area, and create a protected area where residual cancer cells
can grow unhindered. We suspect such a scenario in this patient’s
case. Regardless, today, 13 years from her original diagnosis of
metastatic cancer she is in excellent health with no clinical evidence
of her disease.
For periodic updates about our work and our website, please subscribe
to our mailing list.
|
