Should a 42 year old female with oral cancer under go chemotherapy if her biopsy removed most, CTshow nogrowth

should a 42 year old female with oral cancer undergo chemotherapy after her biopsy removed most of the cancer, and the CT scan showed no growth. She is feeling very skeptic about treatment. The Dr.'s pose ?, why would you suggest chemotherapy if biopsy removed it? , and you saw no growth

The biopsy was only able to remove the tumor that was able to be seen. It is possible for very tiny cancer cells (naked to the human eye) to have been left behind. It is also possible that at some point in time these will spread or metastasize to other parts of the body. Chemotherapy will help shrink or possibly eliminate these remaining cells. They may also consider radiation therapy in the future. All of this would be done to try to prevent recurrence of the cancer.

I say go get a second opinion from another doctor who is reccomended by someone you trust.

yes she should even tho its scary it will help reduce the risk of the cancer spreeding or returning

The chemo will be to eliminate any cancer cells that may be remaining. It is important to kill all cancer cells to reduce the risk of it coming back again.
Just because CT shows no growth, does't mean there aren't any cells left over, and if there are any cells left over you would not be able to see them with your naked eye. Leaving any remaining cancer cells is risky, and no matter what age, if it was me I would go through it and not take a risk on my life.

Hope this helps.

this shouldn't be a question. it shows no growth now, but what happens if it starts growing and then they wont be able to treat you with chemo. they gave me that chance but i said i would get chemo. but its your choice.

Even though the growth has been removed, as is known with breast cancer, there is always cells left behind, they estimate about 15 - 20%. The chemo is to ensure that these cells are eliminated and that the cancer will not return. I wouldnt even hesitate to have the chemo for reassurance of being cancer free.

From your question, I feel you have not understood what is cancer and the meaning other terms used by you.

Cancer is a class of diseases or disorders characterized by uncontrolled division of cells and the ability of these cells to invade other tissues, either by direct growth into adjacent tissue through invasion or by implantation into distant sites by metastasis. Metastasis is defined as the stage in which cancer cells are transported through the bloodstream or lymphatic system.

A biopsy is a medical test involving the removal of cells or tissues for examination. The tissue is often examined under a microscope and can also be analyzed chemically. When only a sample of tissue is removed, the procedure is called an incisional biopsy or core biopsy. Biopsy is also a test to get confirmation about presense of cancer.

CT Scan is a medical imaging method employing tomography where digital geometry processing.

So Biopsy and CT Scan are not treatments at all. Hence by taking a biopsy sample and CT Scan showing no growth the treatment for this deadly disease will be full. Even the affected portion or the tumor is fully removed by surgery, still there will be some cells left over in the body and it will multiply at a fast pace and also spread to various other parts of the part.

The spreading cells should be controlled by chemical/medicinal treatment (Chemotherapy) and eradicated by Radiation therapy. Depending of the stge and grade of the disease the Oncologist will suggest the amount of therapies to be given. Even after doing these treatments the disease may come back and kill the patient. So we should be careful and treat the patient fully abd have periodical (say monthly) checkups to ensure there is not recurrance of the disease.

CANCER IS STILL AN ENIGMA and we should do our best to save the patient.

So I suggest you to leave it to the oncologyst treating the patient to do the treatment as may be required.

Most successful cancer treatment involves surgically removing the tumor, then treating the patient to destroy any remaining cancer cells too small to be detected either by chemotherapy or by radiation. I suspect your doctor is not explaining things to you well anyway, a biopsy does not remove a tumor, it merely takes a sample of a tumor to test to see if it is malignant.

In your case, it sounds as though the chemo would be to kill the remaining cancer cells after the surgery, and to minimize the chance of the cancer recurring, it would probably be a very good idea. I am not a doctor, but neither would I continue to see a doctor I did not trust implicitly. What exactly do you feel would be your doctor's motivation for recommending a treatment you didn't need?

Chemo or radiation. There is no guarantee cells do not remain.
Let your oncologist make the decision.

You don't say what type cancer or what stage or what size, so all the answers you will receive will be general guesses at best.

Did the oncologist suggest chemotherapy or are you just assuming that is what is next?

Typical treatment for squamous cell carcinoma of the mouth, a very common oral cancer, is surgical removal of the cancer with wide margins and possible radiation treatments to kill any other cancer cells.

An initial biopsy is not enough treatment to be considered wide margins. You need to see an oncologist who specializes in ear, nose and throat (and mouth) cancers and see what they have to say about further treatments. Then you need to get a second opinion and all this needs to be done quickly since oral cancers can be very problematic, even when caught early.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/oralc...

It only takes one cell for your cancer to return. I had cancer, had a complete hysterectomy all cancer was removed. Doctor said I had a 70% chance my cancer would not return, but if I went through treatments I would have a 97% chance of it never returning. Seems like pretty good odds to me. I did the treatments. I had no problems, never got sick, only missed 5 days of work during my treatments. my treatments were done only for precaution. I would do it again in a heart beat.