Hearing terrible words from the doctor that lung cancer has been detected, everyone wants to know what prognosis is given by oncologists, exactly how treatment will be received and whether there is a chance to get rid of this ailment. The worst thing is that it can be difficult to identify, therefore, in oncology it is often possible to meet patients who have lung cancer of 4 degrees, and they did not even realize that they were sick until that moment.
There are 4 stages of this common disease in our time.
- In 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.
- In the second stage, the tumor can grow to 6 cm. It still does not affect other organs, but some lymph nodes are already affected.
- The third stage is characterized by rather extensive lesions, the bronchi, adjacent lobes of the lungs are affected. Metastases penetrate the lymph nodes of the respiratory system.
- If the disease goes beyond one organ, both local and distant metastases are found, then this is already 4 degrees of lung cancer. The stages, its symptoms are already obvious, it is practically incurable.
Even oncologists are not always taken to talk about some predictions for such lesions. No one can know how the body will respond to treatment, especially in cases where only procedures aimed at stopping tumor growth and improving the condition of a patient with lung cancer are performed. How many live with such an ailment is hard to say. This will depend on the stage at which the disease is detected, and whether there are metastases, and on what type of cancer the organ was damaged.
Of course, the most favorable forecasts are given in those cases when the 1st or 2nd degree of the disease was detected. In this case, it is still possible to carry out the operation and maintain the patient's condition. When prescribing 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 penetrated into all the lymph nodes, struck other organs, then the doctors did not give much hope. Yes, and patients know that lung cancer is deadly at the 4th stage ; how many live with it is also known to almost everyone. Not all patients can last even several months; five-year survival does not exceed 10%.
Of course, this will depend on which lung cancer was detected. 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 case, treatment gives a result in 10% of cases.
Having heard this diagnosis, do not despair. The main thing is to trust professionals and not self-medicate, even if lung cancer was found at an early stage. How many patients who refuse treatment live, does not even depend on the stage of the disease. Some may go away in half a year, 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.