Case studies

Ovarian Cancer Treatment Case Sharing (YouTube Video)

It is highly recommended that you click this link to YouTube and watch it in full screen (with Chinese and English subtitles)

https://youtu.be/Tn504ns2RNk

A letter from patient's daughter-in-law

Last Mother's Day (2020) we had dinner with my father-in-law at the Din Tai Fung restaurant. After that event, my father fell ill and found a ulcerative wound in his mouth. He went to see a dentist, who commented that it should be from teeth grinding, but the wound had not healed or shrunk for 1-2 months. He then visited an ENT doctor for help, who promptly referred him to a medical center (National Taiwan University Hospital). My father, however, didn't go to the hospital; instead, he went to a Chinese medicine clinic and the doctor there assured him that he would get better in 3 months. Unfortunately, the lesion did not improve, and the ulcerative mass only got bigger and bigger. His son (my husband) urged him to seek western medicine or at least to have a detailed examination (e.g., computer tomography scan), but again he hesitated. At the same period, he kept taking herb drugs given by the Chinese medicine doctor and the prescription had been changed again and again, but the tumor was just getting bigger and bigger. He meanwhile lost his appetite and was getting thinner and thinner.

Just while we felt helpless, a relative of a client who also had a similar disease (oral cancer) introduced us your clinic; meanwhile, we did a lot of study about intra-arterial chemotherapy. At this period of time, he could barely eat, and could only drink liquid stuff. Afterwards we found out that the reason that he hesitated to see western medicine doctors was simply because he was afraid of having parts of his face removed by surgery.

Thankfully, he finally took our advice and agreed to visit your clinic. After thorough explanation by doctors and head nurse, he received implantation of an arterial catheter which only needs local anesthesia and took about 2-hours. He then started regular infusion of chemo-drugs via this intra-arterial route. To be honest, we didn't have too much a hope at first, but soon we witnessed gradual shrinkage of the big mass, from about 12 cm in diameter to smaller than 2 cm in 3 months. Along this treatment, my father-in-law did not experience any major discomfort. His vital organ functions had been well preserved, including heart, lung, kidney and liver. Doctors in your clinic are highly professional and often encouraged my father-in-law. We also noticed that his gained physical strength gradually, and more importantly, his long-lost smiles. This is the most gratifying thing for us. We deeply appreciate the staff of your clinic, with special thanks to Dr. Steve Lin, Dr. Chih-fung Wu, the head nurse.

Witness: Fan Ji

(This article was handwritten by the patient's family)

Case sharing -- ovarian cancer

In 2015, Miss Li was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in Chiayi (a city in southern Taiwan). She underwent three operations and more than 10 cycles of systemic chemotherapy, which was accompanied by many side effects, including nausea and vomiting, loss of appetite, poor sleep, and weakness.

In January 2020 after a series of follow-up examinations, her physician told her that her condition was quite stable. Surprisingly, just two months later she experienced severe swelling of lower limbs, as well as abdominal distension, abdominal pain and discomfort, etc., which was confirmed later that she had recurrent tumor growth and spreading to liver and abdominal cavity, which subsequently compressed the venous return from pelvis and lower extremities. Given that Miss Li had undergone multiple systemic chemotherapy and targeted drugs without apparent effects, her doctor in Chiayi advised her to consider hospice care.

In her dark hours in life when Ms Li was about to give up, she was introduced by a friend about the intra-arterial chemotherapy, and she then took a visit to our clinic in April 2020. After Dr. Wu Zhifeng's explanation and suggestions to take intra-arterial chemotherapy, Miss Li rekindled her hope. Combining the results from "Circulating tumor cells (CTC) drug susceptibility tests", the most effective chemo- and targeted drugs as identified from CTC drug screening were selected and given. After two months of treatment, Miss Li's CA-125 index was dramatically reduced. At the same time, abdominal distension with ascites remarkably improved, which endowed Ms. Li the long-lost energy for life. Despite long-term follow-up was still required, Miss Li has shown deep appreciation towards our staff, especially to Dr. Wu

As Dr. Wu often emphasizes, circulating tumor cells drug sensitivity test is genuinely a kind of precision medicine, which is to tailor the cancer treatment options for individuals. When combined with intra-arterial delivery of highly selective drugs proven to be effective by CTC drug sensitivity test, many patients regarded to be “hopeless” may well benefit from this treatment modality with prolonged life span and joy of life.

Case sharing -- oral cancer

Mr. Li, who lives in Taitung, discovered a lump on his right lip more than a year ago. Because a friend had undergone surgery to remove the affected area of oral cancer which caused a deformed appearance and physical dysfunction, Mr Li was afraid to seek surgical treatment. While hesitating for treatment, Mr Li had a newly developed mass at his left oral cavity with frequent bleeding and foul odor, which eventually penetrated the cheeks.

Finally, Mr Li learned from the official website of our clinic about "intra-arterial perfusion chemotherapy" and he decided to come for consultation. At the time of the first visit, Mr. Li’s oral cancer was actually already at stage 4. After just 3 cycles of intra-arterial chemotherapy, his tumors shrank remarkably and the pain was lessened significantly. Furthermore, because of very mild side effects from the treatment, Mr. Li returned to work two months after treatment. More of note, his tumors completely disappeared after 5-month treatment, and to this date, Mr. Li maintains regular follow-up visits and keeps a good quality of life.

We therefore encourage patients with cancers that even when the disease is at its terminal stage, don't give up lightly unless you have tried every possible option, including the selective intra-arterial chemotherapy. In Dr. Wu's extensive experience, echoed by many published literature, intra-arterial infusion chemotherapy can be deemed one of the best options of treatment, especially for oral cancer.