Big bummer — Mayo’s pathologist confirmed the original diagnosis. They reviewed the 2010 slides/tissue. The pathologist said that while the tumor cells had all the required features of an ependymoma, they did not have the typical features of ependymoma. The features are apparently “striking.” Mayo has asked to see the 2012 slides/tissue. I’m going to request that for them. Thus, my hope at avoiding radiation is almost gone.
I did get an email from our Children’s oncologist who just returned from an international pediatric brain tumor conference. She talked to a doctor in Canada who has had 2 children do resection, resection (no radiation). Italty also has 2 children who have been cured with resection, resection (no radiation). But, Canada and Italy have 2-3 times the death rate from ependymoma than here in the U.S. so we’d be gambling with Jude’s life.
Our Children’s oncologist did send an email to a doctor at St. Jude’s who may be doing some testing to determine if he can predict a tumor’s behavior by looking at its biology. She asked him if he would be able to look at Jude’s tumor cells to determine if he can predict whether they are likely to recur and spread. We’ll see if that pans out. In the meantime, Jude and Andy are boarding a plane to Indiana. We can always change our minds before radiation treatment starts or even after it has started if some new, big piece of information warrants it.