New- What is SUV

• By texaszan
• Posted November 7, 2008 at 10:22 am
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Are you sure he's 3a and not 3b? Sounds more like 3b. No reason to give up on either one though. 3a is curable because they can usually do surgery and 3b while more difficult, is sometimes curable and usually manageable. If the "mean" SUV is 4.1 that's good and means the tumor is not too aggressive so there's a bit of good news. Don't hold me to that one but hey, good news is good news even if it comes from some know-nothing stranger on the internet! Seriously, I just researched the SUV thing recently and my limited understanding is that a number under 20 indicates less aggression. Yes, to MD Anderson. Wish we'd gone that route.

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• By Barbra
• Posted November 7, 2008 at 10:59 am
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Thanks so much. You are so kind to share this information. I just spoke with him and I begged him to call MD Anderson to register so I can send his reports. His original diagnosis was 3A on his reports. I am not sure if they upgraded it. They initially thought they could do surgery to remove the mass, but I guess they must have thought the chemo and rad would take care of the nodes.(?) He tried out for the 07' Olympics in Judo, so he is in phenominal shape. He breezed through the rad & chemo with flying colors. We were so hoping to get a good report yesterday. He has two young sons that he has full custody of, so when they told him he only has 2 years to live he was obviously devistated. I hope he calls MD Anderson. I think they will take his insurance, which is a big plus. Also, Do you know about these ECOG studies? I wish I knew all of this so I wouldn't have to waste so much time figuring this out. Thanks again. ps.- I know there is a two week wait to get into MD Anderson.... is this too long to wait???

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• By Dana
• Posted November 7, 2008 at 2:20 pm
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Absolutely get him to MD Anderson.

From my understanding SUV is the uptake value of the glucose dye they inject into his system. The more a tumor "lights up", the more active it is (as demonstrated by how much of the dye the rapidly multiplying cells soaked up in a given amount of time.) I believe 4 is really quite a low number!!! That's great!!!! (Mine was never below 9 and at 16+, my intern said it was the second highest she had ever seen.)

I was stage 3B. . . and have now been 100% cancer free for three years. It can be done. He just has to find a surgeon willing to take a chance on him. Get him to MD Anderson or at least get him to see another surgeon.

(Read my profile for more info.)
I'm on the cover of a magazine with an article about how I was saved by a surgeon after 3 other facilities told me to give up. e-mail me if you want a copy of the magazine. dconwell@everestkc.net

God bless you & your friend. Please try to convince him not to give up!!!!

~Dana

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• By Barbra
• Posted November 7, 2008 at 4:24 pm
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Dana, They are biopsying his nodes Monday beacuse they grew under treatment at the same time his tumor shrunk. I guess they want to make sure they are indeed cancerous. I have been on this computer all day trying to look for a miracle. I have been looking into these clinical studies, trying to see if anyone is doing anything new. We got his stuff sent off to MD Anderson and we're going to try to get him in at U of Chicago.

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