1) Radiation: He would receive 3 treatments over a 21-day period. It could slow the growth of the tumor and it might add a couple months to his life. They have to do these under general anesthesia but he seems to handle that pretty well. It’s possible that the radiation could cause further skin breakdown of the tumor, which is already looking pretty raw.
2) Chemotherapy: He might be a candidate for a clinical study involving a drug called Liposomal Clodronate. He’d get 4 to 8 injections over a 10-week period. He’d be at the hospital for a few hours but would at least be awake. During the study he’d need to go in twice for punch biopsies of the tumor, which would require anesthesia. There is a concern that those procedures might cause problems if the wound won’t heal. Like radiation, this might give us a couple more months with him.
3) Nothing: We can also forego any treatment and let this run its course. Last weekend, we started wrapping his leg with bandages since the skin is beginning to rupture. We would continue that and keep him as comfortable as we can in the meantime. Right now, he is acting like his usual self. His quality of life is actually pretty good but, of course, that could change at any time.
We’ll try to make a decision early next week.
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