Hello and thank you for posting

I'm sorry to hear about your mum's diagnosis and it's not surprising that you would like to know what may happen after the maintenance treatment stops.

Most maintenance treatment is a form of immunotherapy and it usually stops after 2 years. It sounds abrupt and it does cause a lot of worry for people especially if they have been responding well to the treatment. However, research does show that it can carry on working even after the 2 years has finished ,if people have been responding whilst on it.

No one will be able to say what the next step may be though, as everyone is assessed individually and different treatments or approaches may be offered, depending on symptoms.

It's possible though, that there will be a period without treatment now if your mum is not showing any symptoms and things are stable. They may want to check things every 3 months or so and would tell her that if she noticed anything new or different, not to wait for an appointment, but to get in touch with her nurse or clinic for further advice.

Depending on how she is doing, in the future, further treatments like different types of chemotherapy may be offered or the specialist may suggest joining a trial depending on whether she fulfils the strict entry requirements that are usually needed. She could discuss this with her specialist.

If you would like to give us a call at any time to have a chat about any of this, please do ring - the number to call is Freephone 0808 800 4040 and the lines are open from 9am till 5pm Monday to Friday.

All the best to you both

Wanda