is it possible to ever have surgery from stage IV, if the tumor shrinks enough?... - Cancer: Lung Message Board

angelmama39 · 11-03-2006, 05:17 PM

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angel

Janmarie2 · 11-03-2006, 06:42 PM

Angel this is not common but I will say that does not mean it is never done as there are some mavrick type of doctors out there that do not feel Stage IV is being treated aggressive enough and have done surgery. With most doctors it is not done because once the cancer has spread outside the lungs as there is a good chance sooner or later it will pop up in other sites or in the original met site. Stage IV is usually just treated with chemo and or radiation.

The trick is finding one of these doctors but yes I have read stories about stage IV lung cancer patients that did get surgery after some chemo. JanMarie

angelmama39 · 11-05-2006, 06:28 AM

JanMarie, thanks for the info.......

What would it matter if the cancer spread outside the lung. Isn't it better to get rid of the cancer in the lung if that is a more severe/serious cancer? I would say taking the risk of getting rid of it when you can, can outweigh the chances of it being somewhere else..........no?

Anne Marie

Janmarie2 · 11-05-2006, 09:33 AM

I think once it is found outside of the lung too often it becomes like a runaway train and just keeps popping up in different spots or as my mom 's case it has popped up as many mets to the liver and for some reason the mets don't always seem to respond as well to the treatment. Thus I think most doctors feel that doing surgery on the lung is not going to save a person's life once it is stage IV and believe me that is a big surgery to deal with.

If I had lung cancer and the surgery could save my life I would do it but if it could only by me a little more time I do not think I would do it as you can die during the surgery, things can go wrong post op such as sepsis and you could live out your life tortured in an ICU, or even just the fact the recovery can eat up precious time that I do not think I would be willing to give up. I would want to be more sure it would offer me a cure which is hard to do if it has spread outside the lung .

That said I do think most doctors do not treat later stage lung cancer aggressively enough, most only do pallaitive treatment. I know there is a doctor in New York that does treat stage IV aggressively but I am not sure how much his outcomes differ expect some of his patients may survive longer then normal. I am hoping the newer drugs, Tarceva, Avastin , hopefully soon the new cancer vaccine and HKI 272 will change the way doctors view later stage lung cancer as alot of the long term survivors have used at least one of them and had such great results. I think there are even some survivors of these drugs that are cancer free and hopefully they stay that way.

Rather then surgery with Satge IV I would opt for these drugs along with some alternative treatment and good nutrition. Read the book Beating Cancer with Nutrition. Oncologist do not seem to push the nutrition part and I think that is a huge mistake as I think our nutrition really sucks these days . We are not getting the nutrients and enzymes that we need.When you do put the right stuff into your body you are giving it the things it needs to fight disease yes even cancer. JanMarie

conan1017 · 11-06-2006, 08:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Janmarie2

I am hoping the newer drugs, Tarceva, Avastin , hopefully soon the new cancer vaccine and HKI 272 will change the way doctors view later stage lung cancer as alot of the long term survivors have used at least one of them and had such great results. I think there are even some survivors of these drugs that are cancer free and hopefully they stay that way.

Janmarie-

I have been pressing my onc for Tarceva and he seems to resist the idea. Why?? It seems the gemzar is causing Patsy to be anemic, so why not try Tarceva? We are going to Medical University of South Carolina (which is supposed to be the best care in SC), so what is the problem? Am I the problem or should I seek another opinion?

Thanks,

conan