Anyone there?

hi peppa14

sorry to read this about your mum’s diagnosis. 
I too have had lung surgery ( twice - 6 years apart and on both lungs) and Iv just finished chemotherapy for my latest cancer. 
I can’t help with your main question about what that means as I’ve no medical knowledge 

however a similar text on my own tumour biopsy post surgery related to the chemo treatment I was going to receive to “ mop up” any missed cells so this may be the case for your mum and this I could be what this relates to, but I could be wrong and it could relate to the type of cancer itself and it’s makeup

Mine was

T3 multi focal same lobe N0 adenocarcinoma non small cell lung cancer, EFFR negative,PD-L1 1-2%

may be best to call one of the doctors/nurse team looking after your mums care who will no doubt be able to answer your questions

I do hope you can get some clarification on everything and wish your mum well with her treatment 

take care x

Sorry having looked at it again I’m almost sure it relates to the make up of the cancer as it states EGFR variants and what follows are possibly the different variants identified but do check with nurse practitioners who will help you understand more about this 

pT2   ? Primary tumour stage 2 ?

N0.    ? No lymph node involvement?

R0.    ? Unsure? 

Thank you Hutchi for your reply, I really appreciate it. I wish you every success in your recovery x

Hello Peppa 14 and thank you for your post,

I am sorry to learn that your mum has lung cancer, this must be difficult.

When planning treatment several things are looked at including, the grade of cancer (how fast-growing it is) the stage, how big it is and how far it has spread.

Your mum's stage is pT2b which refers to the size of the tumour, N refers to whether the nearby lymph nodes have been affected and M refers to whether the cancer has spread elsewhere in the body (metastasis). In your mum's case, this is known as TNM staging. So from this, it looks like your mum's cancer is 4-5 cm in size but it hasn't spread to the lymph nodes or elsewhere in the body.

When the cancer cells are looked at under the microscope, this also tells the doctors what type of cancer cell it is and whether there are any genetic changes to the cell, which help cancer grow.  EGFR (epidermal, growth factor receptor) is a protein in cells that helps them to grow.

A mutation in the EGFR gene can make it grow too much which can cause cancer.  If you have cancer that has these receptors it is called EGFR positive. This information helps the doctors to decide if your mum might benefit from targeted treatment.  Osimertinib is a targeted cancer drug, it is a cancer growth blocker, which blocks proteins on cancer cells that encourage the cancer to grow (EGFR). It may be given after surgery to help stop the cancer come back.

It is worth your mum having a chat with her cancer specialist or specialist nurse (CNS) to clarify her situation.

I hope this helps a little. Please get back to us if you need any more information or support.  You may find it helpful to talk things through with one of the nurses on our helpline.  The number to call is Freephone 0808 800 4040 and the lines are open from 9am till 5pm Monday to Friday.

Take care, all the best

Jemma