how long will it help to prolong the patient's life typically? i know it differs from person to person, but what is the range?

Well my mom was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer and after chemo and radiation one tumor is gone and the other shrunk to almost nothing and is considered dead. She is doing great and hopefully will stay that way for quite a while. There is no cure for lung cancer so it is not possible but expected to return. We just hope we can stay ahead of it for now. Typically if treatment works life expectancy has be up to 5 years.

My loved one has stage-4 colon cancer. They removed 18" of his colon, but it has spread to the liver and throughout his abdomen. Please help me to know what to expect. He starts chemo tomorrow. Any knowledge would be most appreciated.

that depends on the chemo regiment that he's put on, but I'll agree with fatigue and nausea being the most common side effects.

My dad was just diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. I've done some research and read a few answers here on yahoo. Everyone is saying that this is "a death sentence". I was wondering if anyone knows how long the average life expectancy is of someone with stage four colon cancer…it has spread to the liver and lungs as well.

I dont like putting a date on these kinds of situations, but unfortunately this type of Cancer can be particularly savage and can be quite swift, in as far as some as the cases i have seen and been involved with, (i am a community care worker) Some i have been involved with, can hold on for 3 or 4 years if they are quite healthy, if not they can go as quickly as 6 months from diagnosis…….I apologize for being the bearer of bad news, but the best you can do for your dad is to be there for him, allow him that time to greive, the greiving process is goind to take him through some pretty strong emotions, so you are really going to need to be there for him during this stage, even if you are dealing with your own issues in regards to grief….. and to be close to all of his family, hold his hand when he wants to, and just let him know you love him……other than that i can offer some website that will also give you some pointers as to how to deal with this issue.

They are…….Paliative care explained…involves grief processes and how to deal with death…..
http://www.disability.vic.gov.au/dsonline/dsarticles.nsf/(Pages)/Palliative_care_explained?OpenDocument

Grief and bereavement
http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/179_06_150903/mad10520_fm.html

Don't know the type of cancer, already started treatment.

If the cancer has metastasized and is truly stage 4, then ultimate long term recovery chances are very small. However there are always exceptions to every rule. Some types of previously incurable lymphomas are now curable with stem cell or bone marrow transplants, so at least some stage 4 cancers are now sometimes curable. Brain, lung, breast, cervical or ovarian cancer are not curable after reaching stage 4 unless there is a miracle (spontaneous regression). Another thing to remember is that staging is often not as precise as Drs would have you believe, so one Dr's stage 4 is another Dr's stage 2 or 3. good luck to your relative

my 75 yr old( dear sweet) aunt has cancer that originated in her neck and is now in stage 4 cancer.
she lives far away.and its really sad because i saw her for only the 3rd time in my life after 25 yrs last summer. (my mother and father divorced when i was little and we didnt have the means to visit extended family growing up).

Stage 4 is not a death sentence. It is very serious though and successful treatment will depend on the overall health of the patient, location of the metastasis, response to treatment, and the age of the patient.

My teenage son has been fighting stage IV abdominal sarcoma for two years and done remarkabley well. He feels fine most of the time except when he has chemotherapy. He had massive tumors through his abdomen, large and small intestine, chest wall, spleen, on the liver, caked on the diaphragm, in the lympth nodes, and spots on his lungs. He was treated with high dose chemo, surgery, hyperthermic chemoperfusion, and low dose chemo which eliminated all evidence of cancer for 10 months. He has had a reoccurence of a few small tumors on the liver and will have surgery to remove them in a few weeks.

Absolutely no one here can tell you how long someone with any stage of cancer will live . . not even a doctor. At best it will be a guess. Your dear sweet old Aunt may surprise you yet. Don't be so quick to write her off just because she has a serious stage of cancer.

There is always hope.

I have Stage 4 -recurrent cancer - which has a poor prognosis.
On one hand I want to use my savings to have fun - buy items I've always wanted, travel if I am strong enough to do so, eat at fine restaurants, buy gifts for family and friends. However, on the other hand, if I blow through the money and live longer than the average for my type of cancer - then I will have no emergency money and may go under financially. What would you do in this circumstance?

I was diagnosed with Stage 4 Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. My oncologist took six months to diagnose exactly what kind of lymphoma I had. She sent the biopsies to 5 different medical centers for analysis. When the results finally came back the oncologist told me not to start reading any long books. Well after 2 1/2 years of Chemotherapy, I was diagnosed in remission. That was my new birthday June 17, 2001. I never let my attitude get in the way of living. Any morning I can wake up and find the floor is a good day.

What I guess I am trying to say is enjoy each and every day you have. I was lucky? I had a good doctor? My time was not up? I don't know. I do know that if you are financially able to live the dream, live it. We only go around once in our life, so be a blond and have more fun. Go to the top of the Empire State Building, eat Chinese food in Hong Kong, walk the Great Wall, ski the Alps, take a cruise from New York to San Fransisco by way of Antartica.

We do not know when we are going to die and that is one of the benefits of life. You may get run over by a car tomorrow and would never had the chance to do all those things. You are healthy enough to do it so do it.

And while you are travelling would you please go to Naples, Italy and let me know how the American High School is doing? I went to it in the mid sixties. Thank you.

What words of hope/encourage can you say to a brother-in-law that has been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and is going thru chemo and has already lost his hair?

Hi I am in stage 4 Lymphoma and what I like when people/friends/family come see me that they make me laugh and joke around. They are there to hear what and if I want to talk about any thing.Having me remember the times in my life that would make any one laugh.Laughter is the best healing there is and it make you feel there is nothing wrong at that moment . I hope and pray you find the words you are looking for

Staging describes the extent or severity of an individual’s cancer based on the extent of the original tumor and the extent of spread in the body. It is important because it helps the doctor plan a patient’s treatment. The stage can be used to estimate the person’s prognosis (likely outcome or course of the disease). Furthermore, knowing the stage is important in identifying clinical trials and research studies that may be suitable for a particular patient.

Staging is based on knowledge of the way cancer develops. Cancer cells divide and grow without control or order to form a mass of tissue, called a growth or tumor. As the tumor grows, it can invade nearby organs and tissues. Cancer cells can also break away from the tumor and enter the bloodstream or lymphatic system. By moving through the bloodstream or lymphatic system, cancer can spread from the primary site to form new tumors in other organs. The spread of cancer is called metastasis.

Most cancers can be described as stage 0, stage 1, stage 2, stage 3, or stage 4. Generally, stage 4 cancer denotes that the disease has metastasized to another organ. Medical treatment for stage 4 is much different from those of stage 1 as prognosis is expectedly poorer for the former.

Being diagnosed with stage 4 cancer is emotionally and psychologically tumultuous for the patient, as much as it is for his or her loved ones. Reaching out to patients and their families is the least every concerned human can do. Through this blog, it is our aim to provide vital information for cancer patients, particularly those diagnosed to be at stage 4, as well as their loved ones and caretakers in order to help everyone cope with and beat this disease called cancer.

For background information, the National Cancer Institute’s cancer information database contains cancer treatment summaries that describe the staging of each type of cancer. Treatment summaries are available at http://www.cancer.gov/cancerinfo/pdq/ on the NCI’s Web site.

Staging information can also be obtained by calling the NCI’s Cancer Information Service (CIS) toll-free at 1–800–4–CANCER (1–800–422–6237). For deaf and hard of hearing callers with TTY equipment, the toll-free number is 1–800–332–8615. CIS information specialists also offer immediate online assistance through the Help link at http://www.cancer.gov/ on the Internet.

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