My uncle was diagnosed a few weeks ago and the doctors told him it was supposedly the easiest to treat and that he had at least 5 years left to live. They also told him the cancer was inoperable and started him quickly on chemo. He's not taking any oral medicine. The information I have found on the internet says small cell is the hardest to treat and has the worst prognosis. Can anyone give me some information about small cell lung cancer and how to treat it?
Cancer - 2 Answers
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1 :
Choosing a treatment plan If you have small cell lung cancer, the main treatment will most likely be chemotherapy, either alone or with radiation. Very rarely, surgery might be done if it is limited stage cancer. After the cancer is found and staged, your doctor will talk to you about treatment choices. Give yourself time to take in the information you have learned. The most important things to think about include the stage and type of cancer, your overall health, the likely side effects of the treatment, and the chance of curing the cancer or helping you live longer. Age alone should not keep you from having treatment. http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/content/CRI_2_2_4x_How_Is_Small_Cell_Lung_Cancer_Treated.asp?sitearea=
2 :
Small cell lung cancer is generally staged as limited versus extensive. Limited means the disease will comfortably fit within one radiation field without causing too much radiation damage to nearby structures. Usually this means disease is limited to one side of the chest (roughly). Limited stage disease is treated with both radiation and chemotherapy, usually VP-16 AND cisplatin or carboplatin. Radiation preferably starts up front with first cycle of chemotherapy and goes about 6 weeks. Chemotherapy is given over 3 days by IV, repeated every 3 weeks (one cycle = 3 weeks). Usually 4 are given, occasionally 6 but no more than that. Extensive stage disease is treated with chemotherapy only, unless radiation is specifically used to treat a metastasis or help open up obstructed lung due to tumor. Treatment for limited stage small cell lung cancer is theoretically curative intent; some published articles quote 5 year survival at 20-25%, which for this disease is equal to a cure, as it typically comes back within 3-18 months after initial therapy. I say theoretical because I don't believe the numbers are that high. I have 1 (one) 5 year survivor of this disease. Maybe I have just had sicker or more extensive stage patients, but.... I would never tell someone with this disease, no matter how small or limited, they have "at least" 5 years. It is true that it is easy to treat- the chemotherapy is usually well tolerated and the response rates are high (up to 90% in limited stage, 70% in extensive stage). Complete remissions are common (no cancer on xray), but unfortunately the roots of this disease are difficult to eradicate. I tell patients to expect recurrence but hope for the best... For patients with good responses to initial therapy (partial or complete responses), prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI, or low dose brain radiation) is recommended, as it decreases risk of recurrence in brain (very very common) and prolongs survival slightly. Blessings
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