More than one in 10 patients with lung cancer do not know what type of tumour they have, according to data from a 17-country study carried out by the Global Lung Cancer Coalition (GLCC) to be presented at the European Lung Cancer Conference (ELCC). Nearly one in five patients surveyed did not feel involved in decisions about their treatment and care, and a similar proportion felt that they had never or only sometimes been treated with dignity and respect by those treating them.
“I was shocked that some people didn’t know what type of lung cancer they had because, if they didn’t have that information, how could they understand their treatment options for making decisions about their care?” said Vanessa Beattie from the GLCC. “Receiving a diagnosis of lung cancer is devastating and it’s crucial that patients receive good quality information from the start so they are empowered to make informed decisions about their treatment. At diagnosis, they should be offered information – written or in another form – about their type and stage of cancer and a potential treatment plan which they can discuss with their cancer team and their family.”
This is all well and good, if they can get a sample of the offending object in order to give type and stage. In many cases this has proven to be almost impossible or dangerous .
Hope you are now feeling a little better. Keep Safe.
It is possible to diagnose radiologically, there are distinct differences between a solid tumour cell like NSCLC from small cell lung cancer and Meslethomenia.
I had a radiological diagnosis of NSCLC, without a biopsy because it's position ruled out a needle biopsy. It was not removed either, treatment was performed by radiotherapy.
As you know my husband was diagnosed about six months after you, he went on to have Radical Radiotherapy, It is still referred to as presumed NSCLC. They cant get to it so there was never an accurate diagnosis. I have long since believed that Lung Cancer is still a poor relation in the cancer research world, perhaps I am just a doubting Thomas.
In all honesty there are some people in my experience who do not want a huge amount of information as they feel overwhelmed. If it was me I would want to know everything. My brother just wanted the basic diagnosis and a simple outline of the treatment plan. He was given the information needed in penny packets as treatments started etc. He said it helped him focus on the immediate problem rather than the information being mixed up with information about what may or may not happen in six months or a year's time. It worked for him.
Thank you for this 2greys, but sadly people still soldier on with undiagnosed lung cancer as it is often treated as something else i.e shoulder pain treated as muscular is a very common one. Plus of course as you say difficulty with biopsies in certain areas. My son-in-law and another in law were only told tumour that is terminal and both died quite soon after. Other people get told exactly what is wrong, staged and details of all possible treatment options it is a bit hit and miss on occasions and of course the nature of the person who is ill has to be considered to, not everyone is able to accept such news and wants time to think and may feel treatment is pointless. Early diagnosis is still relevant in most cancer cases. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience , stay safe and as well as possible.
I've found lung cancer carries a stigma about it, a 'you brought this on yourself' less compassionate response, especially if you were a smoker. It could be that the patient feels a sense of guilt along with the anxiety of the diagnosis and does not want to know more than is needed to be treated. I read a comment from a race organizer who said if she was having a fund raiser for breast cancer, there would be 1000 people lined up. If the fund raiser was for lung cancer, there would be a handful.
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