I have a single inoperable breast cancer metastasis in my skull. For me, tumor markers have always been reliable and initiated the search for this lesion. I had gamma knife one month ago. Yesterday my tumor marker had gone up sixteen points from a month ago. I have no other metastatic lesions. Does this mean the gamma didn’t work? Do you know if this has happened before? What does is mean?
Although I do not know the specifics of your case or your Gamma Knife surgery, most brain metastasis respond to radiosurgery, but a small percentage will fail. Biological markers are one way to assess tumor activity and response. In general, these should be correlated with neuro-imaging modalities such as a PET or SPECT scan and brain MRI or CT. I suggest that you speak with your neurosurgeon regarding the recent laboratory results. He or she will likely order a more thorough set of tests to assess the tumor’s response to the Gamma Knife.
Sincerely,
Jason Sheehan
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