Good for the elderly
Despite all efforts at management, prognosis of advanced lung cancer is extremely poor, with a median survival time of ~1 year. The number of cancer patients aged >70 years is significantly increased among the cancer patient population.
Surgical resection or SBRT should be considered the treatment of choice in elderly patients with localized lung cancer . Further prospective studies are required to elucidate the benefits of surgery and SBRT.
The most common physical symptoms in the final stages are: feeling more severely out of breath. reducing lung function making breathing harder. having frequent flare-ups. finding it difficult to maintain a healthy body weight. feeling more anxious and depressed.
Late stage lung cancer can cause symptoms such as: Fatigue . This can include extreme physical, emotional, and mental tiredness . Emotional changes. Some people find that they become less interested in things that used to interest them. Pain . Difficulty breathing . Coughing . Bleeding. Changes in appetite.
So far, the life expectancy of an 80-year old in the United States is 9.1 years (8.1 in males and 9.7 in females), while the median survival for elderly patients with untreated early stage lung cancer in 14 months only (1,11). This suggests that life limitations in that group are purely cancer related (12).
Systematic evaluation of evidence on prognosis of NSCLC without treatment shows that mortality is very high. Untreated lung cancer patients live on average for 7.15 months.
Each year , tens of thousands of people are cured of NSCLC in the United States. And, some patients with advanced lung cancer can live many years after diagnosis. Sometimes patients who are told that their lung cancer is incurable live longer than many who are told that their lung cancer is curable.
In most cases, it does not. A healthy older person often has the same chances of responding to treatment or being cured than a younger one. Even for patients with more health issues chemotherapy may help decrease cancer symptoms and growth, and help people live better and longer.
For example, a five-year lung cancer survival rate tells you how many people are living five years after they were diagnosed with lung cancer . Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)
Stage | Five-year survival rate |
---|---|
3B | 26 percent |
4, or metastatic | 10 percent, or <1% |
Five Physical Signs that Death is Nearing Loss of Appetite . As the body shuts down, energy needs decline. Increased Physical Weakness . Labored Breathing . Changes in Urination. Swelling to Feet, Ankles and Hands.
They could have: Different sleep -wake patterns. Little appetite and thirst. Fewer and smaller bowel movements and less pee. More pain. Changes in blood pressure, breathing, and heart rate. Body temperature ups and downs that may leave their skin cool, warm, moist, or pale.
Symptoms that are common towards the end of life in lung cancer include pain , dyspnoea, delirium and respiratory secretions. Such symptoms need to be anticipated and addressed promptly with appropriate medications and explanations to the patient and family.
Coughing up blood is not generally associated with any particular stage of lung cancer over another, according to the American Cancer Society. But most symptoms of lung cancer appear when the disease has already reached an advanced stage .
In its early stages, lung cancer doesn’t typically have symptoms you can see or feel . Later, it often causes coughing, wheezing, and chest pain. But there are other, lesser-known effects that can show up, too — in places you may not expect. (Of course, lung cancer isn’t the only thing that can cause these symptoms.)
It takes about three to six months for most lung cancers to double their size. Therefore, it could take several years for a typical lung cancer to reach a size at which it could be diagnosed on a chest X-ray.