Dana Farber Gives Hope to Sudbury Mom With Tumor

Kate King received the news she was praying for, and now she's coming back home with a chance to watch her 5-year-old daughter grow up.

King, an Orlando, Fla. resident from Sudbury, was recently diagnosed with a malignant, grade II astrocytoma brain tumor.

After having a functional MRI done in Florida on Aug. 14, doctors at Dana Farber in Boston said surgery is possible to remove the tumor.

"Kate is scheduled to come here (the week of Aug. 26) to meet with the surgeons and oncologist as they did feel surgery is a possibility," said Lisa Doherty, a nurse practitioner for the Center for Neuro-Oncology at Dana Farber and friend of King.

According to Cedars-Sinai, astrocytoma tumors are a form of glioma with star-shaped cells. They often grow very slowly or not at all for long periods of time. Therefore, close observation rather than treatment is possible in some cases (especially ones associated with neurofibromatosis ).

A grade II astrocytoma is also called low-grade astrocytoma or diffuse astrocytoma and is usually an infiltrating tumor, according to webmd.com. This tumor grows relatively slowly and usually does not have well-defined borders. It occurs most often in adults between the ages of 20 and 40. 

"She is continuing to stay strong and the love and support surrounding her has been amazing," Doherty said. "We won’t have more definite answers until Kate meets with the team and decides on her best approach." 

King, who couldn't be reached for this article, told Sudbury Patch earlier this month that she would only have the surgery if it was best for her and her daughter, Madeline.

"I'd rather have five amazing years (with my daughter) than be here for 15 or longer and not be me," she said, explaining how she watched her father die of bone marrow cancer when she was 15. "I have no intentions of being on this earth as a vegetable. I'm not going to do it. I don't want to have my 5-year-old watch me get sick. I don't want her to look at me and say, 'Gosh, you look like my mom but you don't act like my mom.' But Dana-Farber says surgery is possible."

A possibility that has become a reality.