I just had my 4 month MRI in the phase II clinical trial of
Cabozantinib, which I started in August.
My tumors are still stable, although they’ve grown by a small
amount. There were no new lesions or
tumors found. My doctor said the growth
was small, measured in millimeters, and was probably in the range of 5%. Under the RECIST criteria (described below),
this counts as stable disease. I will
continue on this clinical trial until my tumors are no longer stable. I am happy with this result and that my side
effects from the drug are better now that I am on a lower dose.
I find the measurement criteria quite interesting. Most people believe that stable disease means
the tumors have not grown at all since the last MRI/CT scan. In fact, these criteria say that the tumors
can grow 20% from when the treatment started before being defined as progressive disease. This is assuming that
there are no new tumors.
Below is a description of how solid
tumors are measured:
Response
Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors (RECIST).*
·
Complete
Response (CR): Disappearance of all
target lesions
·
Partial
Response (PR): At least a 30%
decrease in the sum of the longest diameter (LD) of target lesions, taking as
reference point the baseline sum LD
·
Stable
Disease (SD): Neither sufficient
shrinkage to qualify for PR nor sufficient increase to qualify for progressive
disease (PD), taking as reference the smallest sum LD since the treatment
started
·
Progressive
Disease (PD): At least a 20%
increase in the sum of the LD of target lesions, taking as reference the
smallest sum LD recorded since the treatment started or the appearance of one
or more new lesions
* Source: Wikipedia
On this Thanksgiving I am thankful that my tumors are still
stable and that things are status quo. I
hope you can find something to be thankful for and I wish everyone a Happy
Thanksgiving.
