Lung Cancer Prognosis: Learning from Dana Reeve
If you are suffering from lung cancer, you may want to know about your lung cancer prognosis. Before we go further to prognosis, let’s we go back to the past, to a moment when lung cancer caused death. You might concern about the tragedy of the death of Dana Reeve. She was an American actress, singer, and activist for disability causes. She died of Lung Cancer at age 44. In August 2005, less than a year after her husband’s death, Dana Reeve who was a lifelong nonsmoker, announced she had cancer. We can imagine how terrible the disease is. For those you have lung cancer always concern about their lung cancer prognosis.
Factor Affecting Lung Cancer Prognosis
Lung cancer prognosis refers to the chance for cure or prolongation of life (survival) this will deal with Lung Cancer Life Expectancy. This is a medical opinion as to the likely course and outcome of a disease. The lung cancer prognosis can be the chance that a patient will recover or have a recurrence (return of the cancer). There are some factors that affect the lung cancer prognosis such as:
o The type and location of the cancer
o The stage of the disease (the extent to which the cancer has metastasized, or spread)
o Its grade (how abnormal the cancer cells look and how quickly the cancer is likely to grow and spread)
o The person’s age, general health, and response to treatment.
When doctors determine a person’s lung cancer prognosis, they carefully consider all of the factors that could affect that person’s disease and treatment, and then try to predict what might happen. The doctor will base the lung cancer prognosis on information researchers have collected over many years about hundreds or even thousands of people with cancer. When possible, the doctor will use statistics based on groups of people whose situations are most similar to that of an individual patient to provide lung cancer prognosis.
Lung Cancer Prognosis vs. Other Cancers
The overall lung cancer prognosis is poor when compared with some other cancers. The Lung Cancer Survival Rates are generally lower than those for most cancers, with an overall five-year survival rate for lung cancer of about 16% compared to 65% for colon cancer, 89% for breast cancer, and over 99% for prostate cancer. Patients may search for lung cancer statistics on their own. Others may ask their healthcare provider about their lung cancer prognosis.
The doctor may speak of a favorable lung cancer prognosis if the cancer is likely to respond well to treatment. The lung cancer prognosis may be unfavorable if the cancer is likely to be difficult to control. People who are facing lung cancer are naturally concerned about what their future holds. Understanding lung cancer and what to expect can help patients and their loved ones. However, it is important to keep in mind that a prognosis is only a prediction; the doctor cannot be absolutely certain about the outcome for a particular patient. Knowing bad lung cancer prognosis does not meant the end of life.
