Question 1

aunt- stage 4 lung cancer, no treatment weak heart, swollen neck lymph, coughing up blood, oxygen, hospice, life expectancy?

Accepted Answer

Preterminal: Unfortunately the patient appears to be preterminal with life expectancy predicted to be in days or weeks. Hospice care will ensure that pain and suffering will be avoided and will not prolong death. I assume that the patient and family understands and agrees with this plan of care.

Question 2

my 85 year old mom was told stage 4 liver cancer  doing no treatment need to leave work.how long does she have i want to help with herand spend time?

Accepted Answer

Probably short.: Sadly, stage IV liver cancer is usually life-threatening within a few weeks or months.  Also, I am guessing that she actually has stage IV cancer in her liver, meaning the cancer has traveled from somewhere else.  When that happens, without good treatment options, people tend to decline fairly rapidly.  I am sorry, but i would plan on less than 3 months.

Question 3

what are stage 4 cancer treatment options?

Accepted Answer

Palliative care: Stage 4 cancer, by definition, is not curable. It would depend on the clinical situation, patient choice and expected response to treatment, wether to pursue active treatment. Palliative and/or hospice care would be one consideration.

Question 4

how often does bladder cancer come back? after successful bladder cancer treatment, is it common for it to come back? can it grow back as a metastatic cancer even after having your whole bladder removed?

Accepted Answer

This : This depends on a number of factors.  The grade of the tumor ( how malignant the cells are ), the stage of the tumor ( how deeply it is growing into the bladder wall ) and the number of tumors all play a part.  For the most common type of low grade non-invasive cancer it will recur in approx 50-65% of patients.  Recurrence rates for higher grade tumors can be even higher.

After bladder removal a bladder cancer can appear in another place only if it was there prior to the surgery but was not detected by the testing done for metastasis.

Question 5

why chemotherapy unable to cure stage 4 cancer even if the tumor is cleared?

Accepted Answer

Chemo limitation: Cancer cells or micrometastasis are unique cells which can continue to function and grow despite exposure to chemotherapy and radiation. Their dna adapts and finds new pathways for cell survival and proliferation. Sometimes it relies on the cells of the microenvironment to grow and flourish. We are getting better in understanding these pathways and finding targeted therapies to treat cancers.

Question 6

my brother in law has stage 4 cancer spread from nose to throat and neck, but not any futher has had chemo and  radiotherpy ( 6 weeks), if cured what chances of coming back, at this is stage what percentage does cure it if any?

Accepted Answer

Need more info: Even with stage 4 head and neck cancers, some patient do survive.  Survival depends in part on the site of origin.  For nasopharynx cancers, the seer data (from the national cancer institute) show 37% of patients still alive 10 years after diagnosis.  Other sites of origin are better, or worse, than that number.  These data are for patients diagnosed between 1988 and 2001.  2012 data may be better.

Question 7

what is the treatment for stage 4 cancer?

Accepted Answer

Varied: A number of different approaches used depending on the nature of the tumor and the extent of spread.  The main goal for solid tumors is reducing  tumor mass preferably by surgery.  Radiation is next employed especially if the mass is lymphoid Then chemo is utilized.  The smaller the mass is at the time of systemic therapy the better the response.  Some metastatic lesions respond to immunochemo.

Question 8

what's the difference in treatment between primary and metastatic cancer?

Accepted Answer

Site of origin: Primary cancer is the tumor that arises in the organ in question, whereas secondary cancer is one that  arose somewhere else and spread to the organ in question.  As an example, bronchogenic carcinoma is a primary cancer of the lung; breast cancer when it spreads to the lung is secondary cancer of the lung.

Question 9

what do you suggest if my mom has stage 4 cancer?

Accepted Answer

Cancer of....?: Treatment and prognosis of stage 4 cancers depend on the kind of cancer and the general health.  She should see an oncologist.

Question 10

how dangerous is an infection to a person with stage 4 cancer?

Accepted Answer

What kind?: Almost any infection in a person with stage 4 cancer is bad, just that some are worse than others.

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Doctor answers about:

Stage 4 cancer no treatment

A member asked:

Aunt- stage 4 lung cancer, no treatment weak heart, swollen neck lymph, coughing up blood, oxygen, hospice, life expectancy?

A member asked:

My 85 year old mom was told stage 4 liver cancer doing no treatment need to leave work.how long does she have i want to help with herand spend time?

A member asked:

What are stage 4 cancer treatment options?

A member asked:

How often does bladder cancer come back? after successful bladder cancer treatment, is it common for it to come back? can it grow back as a metastatic cancer even after having your whole bladder removed?

A member asked:

Why chemotherapy unable to cure stage 4 cancer even if the tumor is cleared?

A member asked:

My brother in law has stage 4 cancer spread from nose to throat and neck, but not any futher has had chemo and radiotherpy ( 6 weeks), if cured what chances of coming back, at this is stage what percentage does cure it if any?

A member asked:

What is the treatment for stage 4 cancer?

A member asked:

What's the difference in treatment between primary and metastatic cancer?

A member asked:

What do you suggest if my mom has stage 4 cancer?

A member asked:

How dangerous is an infection to a person with stage 4 cancer?

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