After 2 rounds of chemo to include cisplaten Patrick got a ct scan at St Jude to see the results of chemo. It appears the mass is not shrinking and in fact may have grown slightly. What was really odd was the center of the 4 inch tumor seemed to be turning liquid inside. Doctors say the tumor could be bleeding but i guess ct scan can't tell. Since im not at St Jude with my wife and son im limited on iformation. Has anyone ever had this to happen or know anyone that has?

 What stage/risk category is Patrick?

 He is stage 4H

I wrote that before i got to goto St Jude to see the doctor. Apparently the cisplaten didn't work so we are now on tipotecan.(excuse my spelling)

after talking to the doctor its uncommon to have that happen but it has happened in the past. The ct scan can't tell if its bleeding from the inside etc

 I can't quote statistics here, but I don't think it's too uncommon to not see a drastic change after two rounds of chemo.

And unless he is following a different protocol, the COG high-risk protocol uses two or three different combinations of chemos--i.e.

A-IVAC (vincristine, adramycin, cytoxan)

B-cisplat/etopiside

C- topotecan/cytoxan

For upfront treatment we did B, A, B, A, resection, C, C.

Ideally, we all want to see change right away, but recently I've read some articles suggsting that may not be the best scenario. The liquifying center is very strange, I've not heard of that one, but then kids do like to keep their parents on our toes, right?!