New diagnosis and feeling gutted
Hi all,
My 69 year old mother was diagnosed with "poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma of the right lung (lower lobe) with focal sarcomatoid features". Her biopsy this Wednesday was positive for TTF-1 and napsin A (patchy) and negative for p40, which the report says supports lung adenocarcinoma. She smoked for 12 years but quit over 30 years ago and does not drink or any other substances.
Her PD-L1 TPS is 70%. EGFR and ALK testing are currently pending, and the pathology report says there is adequate tissue for additional biomarker testing.
Her primary tumor is in the right lower lobe, currently about 2.4 cm but there is a new 0.8-cm satellite nodule in the same right lower lobe and both 4R mediastinal lymph nodes and 11R lymph node are also positive.
Her PET/CT in late June showed no destructive bone lesions. However, the primary tumor has grown 1 centimeter via the pre-biospy CT and bronchoscopy.
We haven't met with oncology yet, so we don't have an official stage or treatment plan. I know this is the hardest part but I'm screaming inside! She is a caregiver to my younger brother who has advanced schizophrenia. I'm worried sick for him both mentally and physically.
The words “poorly differentiated” and “focal sarcomatoid features” are especially scary to me. I'd really appreciate hearing from anyone with lung adenocarcinoma with similar pathology because my brain is immediately going to Pulmonary sarcomatoid carcinoma which seems like essentially a death sentence. 😭
What treatment did you receive, and was surgery still an option after initial treatment? I plan to requested further biomaker testing and have gathered all of her physical reports and scans to try to get a second opinion. Grasping at straws I suppose, but i have to stay busy or I'll crumble.
Just adding for context- I'm 47 years old and my mother and I did not have a great relationship until about 8 years ago. We had a lot of family trauma that neither of us properly dealt with but we finally made amends and are extremely close now. I never met my father. I feel like I finally have a parent and she's being ripped away.
I'm sorry if I sound all over the place, but i mentally am right now. If you made it this far, thanks for listening