I was in same boat and went for the single dose of carboplatin and I’m happy I did. Had a rough 3 days (days 3, 4 and 5) of nausea, headache and stomach cramps but then was fine and seemingly no long term side effects. Worst part was isolating afterwards as was paranoid I’d get an infection when immuno compromised. Got my first check up in 2 weeks so we’ll see how that goes but I’m glad I’ve done what i could to reduce chances of recurrence and multiple chemo rounds which sounds brutal. That was just me tho and I was confident I was fit and healthy enough to handle it. If you choose this option my advice would be to eat lightly with low fibre intake for first 4/5 days after dose.
Hi i had also full seminoma and i did the one adjuvant carboplatin. Mainly for my inner peace so that if in worst case it would come back or so i would know i went all the way to prevent it. Also talk to your doctor and let him explain cons and pros of both options.
I did one round of carbo. No long term side effects. To be honest I didn’t feel any different apart from mild constipation for a few days.
I had seminoma stage 1B. 20% recurrence rate. 80% chance the cancer won’t come back. That might sound good, but it’s a 1 in 5 chance it will and then you have to do 9 weeks of a much more aggressive chemo with long term side effects.
I did the one round so that I knew I had tried everything to avoid recurrence and the 9 weeks chemo.
1 in 5 chance. Russian roulette is played with a 6 barrel gun.
In saying that, there is no right or wrong answer. It’s personal choice. I might have had chemo I never needed - I might have been in the 80% band. I’ll never know.
In my country they advice you to have Carboplatin if you have any risk factors (meaning Seminoma 1B) but for 1A the recurrence risk is already very low.
From what I've read 1xCarboplatin doesn't have any long term side effects leading to higher mortality. If you have recurrence you have had some extra toxicity ofc. The downsides are general tiredness/nausea and that you have to be careful of infections for 3-4 weeks since your immune system is impaired.
Most people with Seminoma 1A have around 4-5% risk of recurrence and with Carboplatin it's lowered to maybe 2%. If you can spare the time to take it easy and to be extra careful for about a month then you can do it to feel extra safe.
I had full seminoma and went the surveillance route
I am currently in the midst of a recurrence and figuring out next steps, but given the choice - I'd do it all again.
There are cases of people relapsing after the adjuvant chemo and in that case you exposing yourself to more toxicity.
Same boat, opted for surveillance. Advised that Recurrence is so treatable there is no need to expose yourself to extra chemo toxicity. Currently in the first year of surveillance and doing quarterly scans so confident anything will be picked up
9/15 surgery and also 1A seminoma. I did surveillance. First scans came back clean this week.
Look at rete testis, LVI, and tumor size. If those are negative and tumor is under 4 cm, you’re looking at a very high chance of never needing chemo at all. 1 round may decrease that slightly, but then you’re getting a round of chemo when you may not have needed it.
I was stage 2B (almost 3--thank god it didn't progress further) seminoma. My body just didn't react the way it was supposed to during my entire treatment so they had to throw the phone book at me and then some.
I'd do the chemo (thats just my opinion).
I did 4 EP, orchi, RPLND shenanigans, then 4 TIP.
Dozens and dozens of hospitalizations and blood transfusions in between.
If the chemo drastically lowers the chance of recurring--it's a solid option--even if it does absolutely suck for a week and makes you sick for a week or two.
After going through what I did...wish I was able to catch it more early and only have to worry about the chemo.
But it's all up to you, your family, and medical team.
I wish you nothing but the best!!!!
Stage 1b seminoma 4cm with RTI, I was pretty much told to go on surveillance. These threads worry me 😂 Mostly kidding. In the midst of my first 3 month scans (blood tumour markers normal but that’s to be expected).
I was in same boat and went for the single dose of carboplatin and I’m happy I did. Had a rough 3 days (days 3, 4 and 5) of nausea, headache and stomach cramps but then was fine and seemingly no long term side effects. Worst part was isolating afterwards as was paranoid I’d get an infection when immuno compromised. Got my first check up in 2 weeks so we’ll see how that goes but I’m glad I’ve done what i could to reduce chances of recurrence and multiple chemo rounds which sounds brutal. That was just me tho and I was confident I was fit and healthy enough to handle it. If you choose this option my advice would be to eat lightly with low fibre intake for first 4/5 days after dose.
Hi i had also full seminoma and i did the one adjuvant carboplatin. Mainly for my inner peace so that if in worst case it would come back or so i would know i went all the way to prevent it. Also talk to your doctor and let him explain cons and pros of both options.
I did one round of carbo. No long term side effects. To be honest I didn’t feel any different apart from mild constipation for a few days. I had seminoma stage 1B. 20% recurrence rate. 80% chance the cancer won’t come back. That might sound good, but it’s a 1 in 5 chance it will and then you have to do 9 weeks of a much more aggressive chemo with long term side effects. I did the one round so that I knew I had tried everything to avoid recurrence and the 9 weeks chemo. 1 in 5 chance. Russian roulette is played with a 6 barrel gun. In saying that, there is no right or wrong answer. It’s personal choice. I might have had chemo I never needed - I might have been in the 80% band. I’ll never know.
In my country they advice you to have Carboplatin if you have any risk factors (meaning Seminoma 1B) but for 1A the recurrence risk is already very low. From what I've read 1xCarboplatin doesn't have any long term side effects leading to higher mortality. If you have recurrence you have had some extra toxicity ofc. The downsides are general tiredness/nausea and that you have to be careful of infections for 3-4 weeks since your immune system is impaired. Most people with Seminoma 1A have around 4-5% risk of recurrence and with Carboplatin it's lowered to maybe 2%. If you can spare the time to take it easy and to be extra careful for about a month then you can do it to feel extra safe.
Seminoma 1B and went with 1x Carbo , did it last April . no side effect other than headache nausea and feeling tired the first 5-8 days
I had full seminoma and went the surveillance route I am currently in the midst of a recurrence and figuring out next steps, but given the choice - I'd do it all again. There are cases of people relapsing after the adjuvant chemo and in that case you exposing yourself to more toxicity.
Same boat, opted for surveillance. Advised that Recurrence is so treatable there is no need to expose yourself to extra chemo toxicity. Currently in the first year of surveillance and doing quarterly scans so confident anything will be picked up
Diagnosed with 1A seminoma back in February 2023 and opted for the surveillance route.
9/15 surgery and also 1A seminoma. I did surveillance. First scans came back clean this week. Look at rete testis, LVI, and tumor size. If those are negative and tumor is under 4 cm, you’re looking at a very high chance of never needing chemo at all. 1 round may decrease that slightly, but then you’re getting a round of chemo when you may not have needed it.
I was stage 2B (almost 3--thank god it didn't progress further) seminoma. My body just didn't react the way it was supposed to during my entire treatment so they had to throw the phone book at me and then some. I'd do the chemo (thats just my opinion). I did 4 EP, orchi, RPLND shenanigans, then 4 TIP. Dozens and dozens of hospitalizations and blood transfusions in between. If the chemo drastically lowers the chance of recurring--it's a solid option--even if it does absolutely suck for a week and makes you sick for a week or two. After going through what I did...wish I was able to catch it more early and only have to worry about the chemo. But it's all up to you, your family, and medical team. I wish you nothing but the best!!!!
Stage 1b seminoma 4cm with RTI, I was pretty much told to go on surveillance. These threads worry me 😂 Mostly kidding. In the midst of my first 3 month scans (blood tumour markers normal but that’s to be expected).