Tumor size
Topic: MRIs and Statistics
According to the latest MRI report...
"The basal ganglia component is essentially unchanged, measuring 1.6 x 3.1 cm."

MRI looks good to me...
Topic: MRIs and Statistics
...but, I'm no doctor!

These images are post operative and somewhat similar to the frames found on the June 26th blog entry. If you compare the previous images, the white part of the MRI, nearest to the center of the brain are tumor cells or necrosis (I believe) and (maybe) they have decreased in size...? I hope!

From left to right (or top to bottom), tumor view from bottom, then middle, then top.

MRI images from after the surgery
Topic: MRIs and Statistics
These images are similar to the frames found on the May 24th blog entry. If you compare the previous images, you can easily see where the surgery was.

From left to right, tumor view from bottom, then middle, then top.

More bad news...
Topic: MRIs and Statistics
The doctors at Duke have interpreted the results of the most recent MRI scan and the tumor is definitely growing. The exact numbers are not yet available, but you can clearly see from the MRI scans below that the tumor is growing upward towards the scalp. They have removed Dad from the CPT-11 protocol and have suggested a treatment of Temodar and Radiation.

From left to right, tumor view from bottom, then middle, then top. Click here for a brief summary of GBM's in an MRI scan.

New MRI results unexpectedly promising.
Mood:  surprised
Topic: MRIs and Statistics
Typically, fast growing Level 4 tumors like a GBM doubles in size in less than a month. Dad's tumor, though large, only increased a small amount!

The size change is:

03/15/2006 5.3cm X 4.9cm X 8.2cm
04/15/2006 5.5cm X 5.6cm X 8.2cm

Dad goes in to meet with the local Doctor to get his Chemotherapy started today at 12:45.

We still don't have an exact classification of this tumor. With this slight change in Tumor size over the course of 4 weeks, it's a good sign. We won't know the exact classification until we get the chromosomal results back to determine if it has the 1p/19q deletion or not.

They found that allelic loss of chromosome 1p was a significant predictor of chemosensitivity and that combined loss of 1p and 19q showed a significant association with both chemosensitivity and recurrence-free survival. These conditions were strongly associated with longer overall survival.

Basically, we are hoping that he has a 1p/19q deletion. Click on the link below to learn more about the advances of understanding brain tumor activity.

1p/19q Advances