| Just Diagnosed with Dupuytren's Disease |
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07/23/2014 17:53
Mike007 
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07/23/2014 17:53
Mike007
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Re: Just Diagnosed with Dupuytren's Disease
Faith:
hi
You probably already did something, but I had radiation therapy with Dr. Wong and so far so good(six months after the second round). He's very nice and the facility is very good too.
Faith
Hi, Faith,
I'm glad to hear that you have had positive results after being treated by Dr. Wong. My situation is a little different now compared to when I last posted. I visited Dr Wong in Morristown NJ back in March but he was reluctant to treat me initially since the DD was so young and the nodule small. He saw me again in May and decided to treat my condition since the DD had progressed (the nodule had become larger and firmer). I had my first week of radiation therapy at the end of June and will be going back in September for the second and final week.
However, even after RT, the nodule is continuing to get even larger and firmer. I went back to Dr Wong yesterday and he has never encountered this before. His other patients have all shown no further progression of the disease once they have started radiation treatment. I have another appointment with him in two weeks, hopefully he will have some information and be able to advise me on where we go from here.
I still have just the one nodule, in the palm of my right hand. There are two cords, one beneath it and one above, which are only noticeable when I run my finger over the area. The nodule is the only visible sign of DD. I will finish my radiation therapy in September and hope that the progression halts. Please let me know what you think of this or if you have heard of any other patients with DD get worse after RT.
Thank you,
Mike
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07/24/2014 07:05
Lanod 
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07/24/2014 07:05
Lanod
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Re: Just Diagnosed with Dupuytren's Disease
Mike007,
Yes there are reports on this site that RT can cause new symptoms to appear and change hardness (softer or harder) of nodules etc. in the irradiated area, or on the edge of the area. This is not unusual. I had a new nodule develop in the irradiated area after the first round of RT. A couple of years later now and no progression. This is one reason why doctors like to leave a 12 week break between the two treatment sessions. They want to see the reaction of the first round and adjust the treatment area if required for the second round. The success of your RT treatment should be judged over months and years and not by reactions in the early weeks. I wish you well in your treatment.
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07/24/2014 10:20
Mike007
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07/24/2014 10:20
Mike007
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Re: Just Diagnosed with Dupuytren's Disease
Lanod:
Mike007,
Yes there are reports on this site that RT can cause new symptoms to appear and change hardness (softer or harder) of nodules etc. in the irradiated area, or on the edge of the area. This is not unusual. I had a new nodule develop in the irradiated area after the first round of RT. A couple of years later now and no progression. This is one reason why doctors like to leave a 12 week break between the two treatment sessions. They want to see the reaction of the first round and adjust the treatment area if required for the second round. The success of your RT treatment should be judged over months and years and not by reactions in the early weeks. I wish you well in your treatment.
Thank you Lanod, I appreciate the information and for sharing your experience with RT. I certainly didn't expect improvement after the first round, but was worried when symptoms became worse. I have a follow-up appointment with the Dr. in just under two weeks time. I expect that the treatment area will be expanded slightly for the second round of RT in September. I will update this thread when I speak with Dr. Wong next.
Regards,
Mike
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07/24/2014 12:51
callie 
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07/24/2014 12:51
callie
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Re: Just Diagnosed with Dupuytren's Disease
My Dupuytren's was not slowed by the RT. It is hard to tell whether or not it stimulated growth.
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07/24/2014 12:56
Mike007
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07/24/2014 12:56
Mike007
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Re: Just Diagnosed with Dupuytren's Disease
callie:
My Dupuytren's was not slowed by the RT. It is hard to tell whether or not it stimulated growth.
Hi callie, I am sorry to hear that RT did not slow the progression of Dupuytren's in your case. How advanced was your DD at the time of your first treatment?
Are you aware of any studies or patients where RT has actually stimulated further growth? I didn't consider this as a possibility.
Thank you,
Mike
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07/24/2014 21:21
Lanod
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07/24/2014 21:21
Lanod
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Re: Just Diagnosed with Dupuytren's Disease
If you look at the RT study page on this site - http://www.dupuytren-online.info/radiation_therapy.html
you will see reference to a 13-year study that shows only 2% of subjects progress after 13 years if RT treatment is done early.
There is a Phase-3 Clinical Study paper of 2012 that is a controlled study of more than 700 hands that shows in DD patients that do not have contracture - after a mean follow-up time of some 8 years - progression will occur in just 3.5% of subjects; compared with 34% in untreated subjects. This improves your risk by 10 fold! The link below will show part of the paper. If you want the full paper please send me an email address. http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007...697-7_44#page-1
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07/25/2014 13:25
callie
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07/25/2014 13:25
callie
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Re: Just Diagnosed with Dupuytren's Disease
My RT was done soon (within 6 months) after nodules below little finger and thumb appeared and before contraction/cord. My entire palm was irradiated. I had 10 weeks between the two sessions.
The hand is definitely worse than before RT.
Edited 07/25/14 16:26
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07/25/2014 13:30
Mike007
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07/25/2014 13:30
Mike007
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Re: Just Diagnosed with Dupuytren's Disease
callie:
My RT was done soon (within 6 months) after nodules below little finger and thumb appeared and before contraction/cord. My entire palm was irradiated. I had 10 weeks between the two sessions.
The hand is definitely worse than before RT.
I'm sorry to hear that, how long ago did you complete the second session of RT?
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07/25/2014 13:33
Mike007
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07/25/2014 13:33
Mike007
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Re: Just Diagnosed with Dupuytren's Disease
Lanod:
If you look at the RT study page on this site - http://www.dupuytren-online.info/radiation_therapy.html
you will see reference to a 13-year study that shows only 2% of subjects progress after 13 years if RT treatment is done early.
There is a Phase-3 Clinical Study paper of 2012 that is a controlled study of more than 700 hands that shows in DD patients that do not have contracture - after a mean follow-up time of some 8 years - progression will occur in just 3.5% of subjects; compared with 34% in untreated subjects. This improves your risk by 10 fold! The link below will show part of the paper. If you want the full paper please send me an email address. http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007...697-7_44#page-1
Hi Laond,
Thank you for these references. I had read the first one before, but not the second one.
Thanks again!
Regards,
Mike
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07/26/2014 01:58
callie
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07/26/2014 01:58
callie
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Re: Just Diagnosed with Dupuytren's Disease
"I'm sorry to hear that, how long ago did you complete the second session of RT?"
January of 2013.
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