Brody's procedure to inject HSV went well

Brody is in the recovery room right now and doing well after his surgical procedure to inject the mutated HSV virus into his tumor.   There was a large team of doctors involved and in the room this morning as the virus was injected.   They had all been discussing and reviewing Brody's case for the past couple of weeks.  The group decided after comparing and contrasting various scans that the best spot to inject would be in the tumor near the spinal column.  

 

The PET CT showed only a small area of his tumor as active tumor.   This area is located in the section of tumor in and around his spinal column.   Dr.  Cripe let us know that according to the PET CT it appears much of the tumor mass is differentiated tissue,  most likely of tissue similar to muscle tissue.  

 

Below is the definition of differentiation from the National Cancer Institute, just in case, anyone is not quite sure what this means.  But basically, it's a good thing.  The cancer cells that have differentiated would grow and spread slower than undifferentiated cells. 

 

 

differentiation (DIH-feh-REN-shee-AY-shun)

In biology, describes the processes by which immature cells become mature cells with specific functions. In cancer, this describes how much or how little tumor tissue looks like the normal tissue it came from. Well-differentiated cancer cells look more like normal cells and tend to grow and spread more slowly than poorly differentiated or undifferentiated cancer cells. Differentiation is used in tumor grading systems, which are different for each type of cancer.

 

Another WONDERFUL bit of good news from the PET CT is that there was not any active cancer showing up in Brody's bone or lymph nodes nor anywhere else but in the spinal column area.  BIG FAT YEAH!!!!!

 

Brody will stay in the hospital tonight for observation and should be released tomorrow around noon.   He will return for a lab check and exam on Tuesday afternoon and again next Thursday.   He will get scans again at 2 and 4 weeks following the injection he received today.  

 

Another bit to share is that Dr. Cripe had surgeons from Nationwide Children's Hospital review Brody's case for surgery to remove the tumor.  The surgeons felt it was not advisable at this point but it was not impossible.  Also, the area in the spinal column would not be nearly as difficult as the rest of the tumor to remove.  This made me feel better that surgery may still be an option if it turns out that the HSV trial does not work for Brody. 

 

Just got word Brody is getting ready to be moved out of recovery to his room.  

Keep praying and crossing fingers!