[crazylilkelly]

Just found out a family friend has stg IV lung ca. He went to the ED yesterday w/ back pain & apparently it was d/t the ca eating through one of his vertebrae.
What is the prognosis for stage iv lung ca? & what have been your experiences w/ ppl surviving it???? thanks

[Diane-RN Student]

I am not a nurse yet, but work as an extern at a cancer center.

I believe that stage IV lung CA is non-curable, but there are many treatment options available (chemo, radiation, etc).

There are two types of lung CA: small cell and non-small cell. Each have a different prognosis.

You may want to do a google search to get more info.

You and your family friend are in my thoughts and prayers.

Best,
Diane

[onc_research]

Originally Posted by crazylilkelly

Just found out a family friend has stg IV lung ca. He went to the ED yesterday w/ back pain & apparently it was d/t the ca eating through one of his vertebrae.
What is the prognosis for stage iv lung ca? & what have been your experiences w/ ppl surviving it???? thanks

I'm sorry to hear that. The five year survival stats are dismal. My brother in law survived 15 months when he was dx with NSCLC. He presented with severe back pain which turned out to be impending cord compression due to the tumor. He received radiation to the spine, and was on chemo until he died due to brain metastasis. He was dx in 1999 and survived 15 months, however, now there are new treatments than may prolong survival. Ck out the nccn.org website, there is info on the standards of care and guidelines for treatment of Lung Cancer

[eternalsunshine]

Dear crazylilkelly,
So sorry to hear your news.

One of my closest friends was diagnosed wiht stage IV lung ca. in February and it was of the worse forms to have. Unfortunately the prognosis is usually pretty poor particularly if it is small cell, mainly due to the fact that it is usually not detected until it is widespread.

On the upside, there are many treatments that can 'manage' the condition such as radiotherapy and chemo which can significantly improve the quality of life for the individual but the curative rates are pretty poor unless it is detected in the early stages.

Have a look through the website that I have attached, which I hope you might find helpful

http://www.cancerbackup.org.uk/Home

[Ilovemyanimals]

I did clinicals in Onclolgy for two semesters and will be working there in July so prognosis I can't really help. But what is going through my head is the fact that is the lung cancer a metastasized cancer from somewhere else because some cancers tend to mets to the lungs. ??? And now it has moved to bone...
I had a pt who's stage iv or v lung cancer mets to the brain within a week.
I am so sorry to hear your news.
I have such an anger towards this thing called Cancer and it is my drive to work in Oncology as my mom is a cancer survivor. Good luck