buzylizy
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Posts:1
Hello.In March through a PET scan I was diagnosed with stage 1a NO MO Lung cancer.3 weeks ago i had my upper R lung removed and I await more information from the chest clinic next week.At the pre op meeting with the sugeon he said I had 6 to 9 months to live without surgery.My question is how long are the stages before being recognized on xrays and scans,so the TNO MO or pre cancer changes stages?
Thank you
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Reply # - May 31, 2014, 09:55 AM
Reply To: pre cancer stages and times
Hello buzylizy, There are no numbers that can be given because each individual's cancer grows at a different rate. Someone may have cancer that grows a cm in a month and another with the same histology nsclc may take months to grow a cm. Also xray can't show small amounts of growth like a CT can.
The suggestion of living 6 to 9 months may be based on the median of thousands of people with the disease whose real life span could have ranged from a very few months to years so to suggest you as an individual would be all but useless. The doctor should have at least explained that if he/she felt the need to give it to you at all.
A nsclc N0 M0 with a nodule less than 3 cm can very likely be treated with surgery alone. Following is a blog post on the subject of whether adjuvant chemo or both chemo radiation is needed. http://cancergrace.org/lung/2012/05/15/modifying-factors-adjuvant-chemo/
I hope this is helpful, let us know if you need other info.
Best of luck for a cancer free rest of life,
Janine
Reply # - May 31, 2014, 10:00 AM
Reply To: pre cancer stages and times
Hi buzylizy,
Welcome to GRACE. Although I'm sorry to hear of your diagnosis, it's good to hear that it was found at such an early stage. There's really no specific time frame for lung cancer to progress from one stage to another, and in fact I would disagree with your surgeon's assessment of 6 to 9 months without surgery. Some lung cancers progress very rapidly, but others progress very slowly and it could be a long time before they move to the next stage. There's no way to know whether your cancer would have remained indolent or progressed; only time reveals that.
Best wishes for a great post-op report.
JimC
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Reply # - May 31, 2014, 07:40 PM
Reply To: pre cancer stages and times
I'll be more blunt than the tactful Janine and Jim are. I think the comment predicting a 6-9 month survival without surgery is absolutely incorrect and not based on a thoughtful assessment. I would prefer to be tactful, but I think that comment is too inane for me to be diplomatic. I don't have all of the details, but I must say that I'm skeptical and wouldn't give the statement enough credit to want to make sense of.
That said, I do think surgery was overwhelmingly likely to be the right thing to do.
The best answer is that the rate of progression can be extremely variable, as Janine and Jim noted, The pace of early lung cancers can be aggressive, but 6-9 months would be a very low estimate, essentially a nonsensical one, and the projection would far more likely be in the range of years.
-Dr. West