Good CAT scan news!

The CAT scan results are great! The tumor has shrunk significantly in less than 3 weeks - down to 6.4 x 4.5 cm, compared to 11.1 x 9.5 cm on April 6 and 6.2 x 6.5 x 8.1 cm on July 7. There are also signs of ossification - some of that may be the dead parts of the tumor calcifying, but there is definitely some regrowth of Alan's hip bone.

Doc A was positively giddy with the results - he kept on calling the nurses over to see the comparison between the April 6 and July 25 CAT scans. They were all pretty amazed at the difference, and I think they had a feeling of vindication, that their work contributed to this result and others like it. Doc A was particularly pleased because it confirmed his belief in the efficacy of Irinotecan in shrinking this type of tumor. He has had success using Irinotecan to fight recurrences of Rhabdomyosarcoma, so it shouldn't be too surprising that is working well against the Infantile Fibrosarcoma since there are similarities between the two.

Here are some side by side comparisons of the April 6 and July 24 CAT scans.







We had forgotten how horrifying that first CAT scan was, watching the tumor take up more and more of Alan's abdomen as the cross section view moved down his torso. This was the first time we had seen it again since that first night in the hospital. To see it running next to today's scan really brought home how much progress we've made in the last three and a half months and 5 courses of chemotherapy.

With such great results from the Irinotecan and Adriamycin, Doc A thinks we'll be ready to consider surgery after the next dose, so he plans to present Alan's case to the Tumor Board in September after two more courses of chemotherapy (VAC this weekend and Irinotecan/Adriamycin at the end of August) and one more CAT scan. Since this is the first time he's brought up surgery since we first started discussing Alan's treatment (as opposed to us asking them "Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?"), we were quite encouraged! Please pray for the tumor to continue to shrink so we can finally get it out of him. What a wonderful second birthday present that would be for Alan!