Hearing terrible words from a doctor that lung cancer has been discovered, everyone wants to know what oncologists predict, how exactly the treatment will be carried out and whether there is a chance to get rid of this disease. The worst thing is that it can be quite difficult to identify it, so in oncology it is often possible to meet patients who have stage 4 lung cancer, and they did not even know until that moment that they were sick.
There are 4 stages of this common disease in our time.
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Lung cancer how long do they live At the initial pores, when the tumor does not exceed 3 cm, it is localized in one place, but there is no metastasis. It is possible to detect a problem only in isolated cases.
- At the second stage, the tumor can grow up to 6 cm. It does not yet affect other organs, but some lymph nodes are already affected.
- The third stage is characterized by fairly extensive lesions, bronchial tubes and adjacent lobes of the lungs are affected. Metastases penetrate the lymph nodes of the respiratory system.
- If the disease extends beyond one organ, it occurs aslocal and distant metastases, then this is already grade 4 lung cancer. Stages, its symptoms are already obvious, it is practically incurable.
Even oncologists are not always ready to talk about some kind of predictions for such lesions. No one can know how the body will respond to the ongoing treatment, especially in cases where only procedures are carried out aimed at stopping the growth of the tumor and improving the condition of a patient who has lung cancer. It is difficult to say how many live with such an ailment. This will depend on the stage at which the disease was detected, and on whether there are metastases, and on what type of cancer damaged the organ.
Of course, the most favorable forecasts are given in cases where the 1st or 2nd degree of the disease was detected. In this case, it is still possible to perform an operation and maintain the patient's condition. With the appointment of timely and adequate treatment, the probability of living at least 5 years after diagnosis is about 70%.
The chances of survival if the disease is detected at the 3rd stage are reduced to 20%. But if the diagnosis was made when the metastases had already penetrated into all the lymph nodes, struck other organs, then the doctors do not give much hope. Yes, and patients know that lung cancer is deadly at the 4th stage, how much they live with it, is also known to almost everyone. Not all patients can last even several months, the five-year survival rate does not exceed 10%.
Of course, it will also depend onwhat kind of lung cancer was diagnosed. How many live with small cell lesions will differ significantly from how long a patient with large cell cancer can live. So, in the first case, about 2% of patients recover, and in the second, treatment gives a result in 10% of cases.
Hearing this diagnosis, do not fall into despair. The main thing is to trust professionals and not self-medicate, even if lung cancer was found at an early stage. How long patients who refuse treatment live does not even depend on the stage of the disease. Some may go away in six months, even if a small tumor without metastases was found, others may live for several years. But if you refuse the procedures offered by doctors, a fatal outcome will be inevitable.
