Yvonne's announcement about Pancreatic Cancer
Channel: goldcoastlocal
Date: 2021-10-24

Hi Everyone, 
Here's a video about my recent diagnosis. I should make a correction. My tumour is being tested against 500, not 5 genes (chemo brain)! Here is a brief explanation of what will be tested with regard to the tumour. Comprehensive _PLUS_ DNA and RNA Assay
This assay is a multiple-biomarker, next-generation sequencing
(NGS)-based assay, that has been adopted by leading cancer
institutions around the world.  To perform this test, we require
tissue that has been excised from your most recent biopsy. This test
is able to provide information on over 500 genes that may indicate
responses to certain types of treatment, which has clinical utility
both in Australia and Overseas.  The aim of this test is to provide information for your health care professional to help tailor treatment to your specific needs as well as identify access to clinical trials, and it will provide you with the genetic characteristics of the tumour which can then be matched with specific drugs that may help to  increase the likelihood of disease-free progression. This also give an  indication of tumour mutational burden (TMB) and homologous  recombination deficiency (HRD), all of which are important emerging  biomarkers in predicting your likely response to immune checkpoint inhibitors, should you be considering immunotherapy options. (Immunotherapy is not very advanced in the treatment of pancreatic cancer). I have the same type of pancreatic cancer as Russell, adenocarcinoma, which is the most common type and occurs in 85% of diagnosed cases. But my oncologist did say that even though they are the same type, they will be very different from each other. I have an excellent oncologist by the name of Dr Marco Matos. He is also Russell's oncologist so we already had an established relationship. He is originally from Peru.  He is a gentleman in the truest sense of the word and very up to date with cancer treatments. I know I am in very good hands as he is highly regarded by medical professionals we speak to. 
I should also add that Russell had his 4 years clearance recently. He was in a different position than me when diagnosed as it was detected early in an incidental finding and he was able to have surgery. Only 25% of people  qualify for surgery, and in my case surgery is not an option as the cancer has already metastasized. I hope this explains more about this cancer.