Why are these trials organ specific? Lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, etc. Does it really matter?
A number of companies have sprung up that'll try to a tumor sample to a variety of treatments in order to figure out whether treatments from other tumor sites may work better.
My own tumors originated in my tongue; now I don't have a tongue any more (https://jakeseliger.com/2023/09/09/life-swallowing-tasting-a...) and the tumors reside in my neck and lungs. A lot of oncologists who specialize in head and neck cancers also work in lung, since there seems to be a lot of overlap between the two.
I don't know this for sure, but I think DNA profiling is changing how oncologists, and people more generally, view cancers, or at least many cancers. Decades ago, it wasn't feasible to take molecular snapshots of cancers. Now it's still not quite standard, though it should be, via companies like CARIS: https://www.carislifesciences.com/
Being in the treatment rooms for both people made surgery, chemo, and radiation all feel like blunt instruments that crushed the patients. Even 3 months post treatment, my surviving family member suffers from the effects of the treatments, and likely will for up to a year we’ve been told.
I hope you get some relief and hope for your situation. Your writing is exceptional.
I've felt hopeless as they dialed back the ventilator prepping to take me off it, and I've been so weak I got stuck in the bathtub.
So: best of luck, and best of doctors to you.
I think I broadly agree but with the important caveat that organs frequently share cell types and therefore can share cancers specific to those cells, across organs.
After all, cells in each organ have often specific shape, receptors, behavior, means to communicate with other cells, etc...