63stratman's Journey with Acinic Cell Carcinoma
Survivor: Head & Neck/Throat Cancer > Salivary Gland Cancer > Adenocarcinoma > Acinic Cell Carcinoma
Patient Info: Finished active treatment less than 5 years ago, Diagnosed: over 13 years ago, Male, Age: 71, Stage II
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Experience Icon Descriptions
Procedure: Drag this icon to show a procedure.
Radiation: Drag this icon to show a specific radiation therapy experience.
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Oh No: Drag this icon to show when something bad happened (e.g., cancer’s back, lost job).
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Diagnosed
Oh No
Found lump in front of left ear. CT scan couldn't tell if it was benign or malignant. Fine needle aspiratin (FNA) was inconclusive, but showed no malignancy. Found out later, FNAs for this kind of cancer are relatively worthless. Luckily I had one of the foremost parotid cancer specialists in the world and he scheduled me for surgical removal.
Surgery
Procedure or Surgery
Long (7 hour) surgery. Surgeon found a well-encapsulated 2cm tumor deep in parotid. He had it removed successfully and was preparing to close it up (thinking it was benign) when the pathology report came back with the diagnose of Acinic Cell Carcinoma, Papillary Cystic Variant. He then removed a number of lymph nodes and then closed me up. All lymph nodes were negative.
External radiation
Radiation
Had 28 days of IMRT with almost no side effects.
Radiation
Decision Point
Surgery left clear, but very narrow margins. This prompted the surgeon and radiologist to recommend radiation. If I had been a young person, I would have probably refused, due to the odds of a secondary cancer.
Follow up CTs and PETs
Decision Point
I have followed my surgeon's recommendation for yearly full-body CTs and PET scans. However, there are mixed opinions about this in the medical community. Being such a slow-growing cancer, many specialists do not recommend PET scans. Also, the amount of radiation recieved by yearly CTs and PET scans is worrisome. But, partly due to the extensive experience of my surgeon, I followed his recommendation and had them.
Anniversary
Celebration
Approaching the 5-year mark and the cancer has not returned.