Cancer Update: Three months ago my chemo Dr. Said that I had some nodules in the lung and that he wanted me to take steroids....I said I didn't want to at least not just now...he kind of laughed cause he knows that I will hold off on medicine until I truly need it...so he looked over at me and said "alright you call me when you want them!" Well I just came from my latest cat scan last week which was on not only the chest but they included the abdomen this time...and they said everything looked good...there was some scar tissue from the radiation...but never mentioned the nodules....hoping that is a good sign :). I had to take my 4yr old grandson with me cause he wouldn't stay at the sitters that day...which by the way he was so good and the chemo nurses loved him!!! God Bless his little heart! Any how I was told to come back in four months instead of the usual three...yeah!!! I am however not cancer free....not till five to eight years of not having to be treated is up! :) So far so good....but only by the grace of God I go with. Keeping the faith ♥
Note: Small cell lung cancers account for 20-25% of all lung cancers and are primarily diagnosed in smokers or former smokers. They differ from other types of lung cancer in that they spread very quickly throughout the body via the blood and lymphatic system. Accurate staging of small cell lung cancer is essential before definitive therapy can begin. A simple staging system is used to separate small cell lung cancer into 2 stages, referred to as limited and extensive. Limited and extensive disease are treated differently; therefore, your primary cancer doctor will perform a variety of tests to determine the stage of the disease and thus, the optimal treatment strategy. The tests will evaluate whether you have evidence of cancer in your bones, abdomen, brain and bone marrow. If these staging tests reveal no evidence of your cancer having spread outside a well-defined area in your lungs, then you will be diagnosed with limited stage small cell lung cancer. Otherwise, you will be diagnosed with extensive disease. However, it is important to understand that nearly all patients with small cell lung cancer already have cancer that has spread outside the chest, but cannot be detected with currently available diagnostic tests.
Oh yeah I forgot to put this in....I don't like statistics....guess that is why I think more positive about this disease than most...Or else I am just in denial...I am gonna stick with positive
The overall survival rate for small cell lung cancer is, sadly, only about 6%.
For limited stage small cell lung cancer, survival rates have improved since the addition of radiation therapy to treatment, and the use of PCI. The median survival rate (the time at which 50% of people have died and 50% are still alive) is 16-24 months, with a 2-year survival rate of 40-50% -- though only 10% of people with limited stage disease show no evidence of cancer 2 years after diagnosis. The survival rate at 5 years is 14% with treatment.
For extensive stage small cell lung cancer the median survival with treatment is 6 to 12 months with treatment, and only 2 to 4 months without treatment.
Factors that are associated with improved survival include female gender, and better performance status -- that is better health in general at the time of diagnosis. Continued smoking may lower survival. Since small cell lung cancer grows rapidly, and since we have come a long way with other fast-growing cancers such as leukemia, it is hoped that better treatments will be found in the future.
