Lung Cancer Life Expectancy

Lung Cancer Life Expectancy

The human lung can be divided into right lung and left lung. Right lung has three lobes and the left lung has got two lobes. Lingula is a structure present in the left lung that corresponds to the middle lobe of the right lung. The bronchi are the main air passage to the lungs. They further get narrower to form bronchioles which have got sac like structure at the end. This sac like structure at the end is called as alveoli where the exchange of gases takes place.

Perhaps the most common question we are asked is “what is stage 4 lung cancer life expectancy?” Not unexpected, since 40 percent of people have already progressed to stage 4 lung cancer at the time they are diagnosed. Before answering the question, though, it is important to talk a little about how the answer – the statistical answer – is derived.

Stage 4 lung cancer is at last point of this cancer type. And at this stage, cancer has spread to other lung or organs. Two variations of stage 4 lung cancer present. These are stage 4A which is that the cancer cells spread within the chest and stage 4B that is the spreading to other organs such as brain, bones. There exists a misunderstanding situation at this point. Life expectancy is not as low as people thought.

Lung cancer is generally divided into two types, small-cell carcinoma, also know as ‘oat cell’, and non-small cell carcinoma. The second is further broken down into ‘squamous’ which involves cells from the lining of the airways, and non-squamous cell, which includes other cells. The patient’s lung cancer life expectancy depends on which type is diagnosed, what stage the cancer is in when diagnosed and the course of treatment followed.

Expecting a life expectancy of five years after the therapy of lung cancer is not impossible. The life expectancy depends upon the period within the structure of lung cancer, when it was diagnosed, the treatments used to cure the cancer and whether the cancer has recurred or not.

Life expectancy in stage 4 lung cancer depends on so many factors. Firstly, if you are young, your recovery processes will be faster than older people. Also, if you are women, you are more likely to be a convalescent person rather than male people. The life expectancy for being sportive people is much higher than the others. This is all about health nutrition and its effects. In addition to these, the number of tumour cells is a very crucial factor for treatment processes.

Stage 4 lung cancer life expectancy can vary considerably among different people.

The surgery is not a good option due to same reason in stage 4 colon cancer. When the tumour cells spread to other tissues or organs, it is hard to say that the surgery can’t serve the purpose of treatment in stage 4 lung cancer. As I mentioned before, the stage 4 lung cancer is the most advanced position of this disease. The chemotherapy is the most advised treatment approach and the second one is immunotherapies.

• Your particular lung cancer type and location – Stage 4 lung cancer encompasses several lung cancer types and includes cancers that have spread to only one distant region or those that have spread extensively. Survival can also be affected by the genetic characteristics of the tumor (learn more about molecular profiling for lung cancer); with cancers that have "targetable mutations" such as ALK-positive lung cancer, ROS1 mutations, and EGFR mutations being more likely to respond to the newer targeted therapies for lung cancer.

• Your age – Younger people tend to live longer than older people with lung cancer.

• Your sex – The life expectancy for a woman with lung cancer is higher at each stage of lung cancer.

• Your general health at the time of diagnosis – Being healthy overall at the time of diagnosis is associated with a longer life expectancy, and a greater ability to withstand treatments that may extend survival.

• How you respond to treatment – Side effects of treatments such as chemotherapy, surgery, targeted therapies, immunotherapy, and radiation therapy vary among different people, and may limit your ability to tolerate treatment.

• Other health conditions you may have – Health conditions such as emphysema may lower stage 4 lung cancer life expectancy.

• Complications of lung cancer – Complications such as blood clots can lower stage 4 lung cancer life expectancy.
• Where your lung cancer has spread - Lung cancer can spread to nearly any region of the body, but most commonly spreads to the brain, the bones, the liver, and the adrenal glands. As noted below, when only a few lung cancer brain metastases or liver metastases are present, treatment with the goal of long-term survival is sometimes possible.

Stage 4 lung cancer is not directly related to drinking tea, it is about smoking actually. Doctors are not good at analysing how long a patient will survive. So patients should be patient and remember the beauty of life. For each type of cancer, getting a diagnosis at early stages is very critic because later in the stages, the treatment is getting more difficult, unfortunately. Every patient should hope against all hope.

This variation of cancer affects nearly fifteen percent of patients. It spreads quickly and is difficult to detect. These factors contribute to a low survival rate. Chances of successful treatment are improved in younger patients and when the problem is found in the ‘limited stage’, when it is localized and easier to remove. Cancer in an ‘extensive stage’ has spread and will require aggressive treatment.

The survival rate for the patients who underwent radiation therapy alone is one year for about 57% patients, two years for about 36% patients and three years for about 21% patients. Patients who underwent combination of radiation therapy along with thermal ablation show higher percentage of survival rate.

One study puts small cell survival rates at 2 percent to thirty percent, depending on how progressed the disease is. Radiation therapy or ‘thermal ablation’ can prolong life, but the latter destroys or debilitates organs or tissue in the process. Small-cell carcinoma of the lungs left untreated is expected to kill within a year or less.

87% of patients show survival rate of one year, 70% patients show survival rate of two years and 57% people show the survival rate of three years. Life expectancy is increased when treatments were given in combination. The recurrence rate is also reduced significantly.

Stage 3 is advanced cancer, and the gender, age, health of the patient and carcinoma type affect the chances of extending the patient’s life. Statistics show that women, younger patients and people in good health are expected to survive longer at any stage. General health complications or a tumor located near vital organs will make it harder to eradicate the disease.

It is observed that lung cancer is mostly developed in the older people. 2 people out of 3 diagnosed with lung cancer are above the age of 65. Just 3% of patients below the age of 45 accounts for the lung cancer. The risk of developing lung cancer in the males is higher than females. The ratio male lung cancer is 1:13 whereas for the females is 1:16. This comprises both smokers and non-smokers. It is true that people who smoke are at a much higher risk of developing lung cancer than people who do not smoke. Prognosis has a close relation with lung cancer life expectancy.

Statistics from Lynn Eldridge, MD, show that the average life expectancy at stage 3A and the more advanced 3B, is fifteen months and thirteen months respectively. They also show the five year survival rate to be 23 percent for patients in stage 3A and 10 percent for those in 3B. Stage 4 is more advanced and considered only two percent curable. According to Eldridge, at least 40% of lung cancers have reached this stage by the time they are diagnosed. Treatment and coping are emphasized for these patients, and may prolong the patient’s life.