Dad has lung cancer

[Smersh]

My dads diagnosed stage 3 today and said he wouldn’t be able to have treatment as chemo would make him really ill and surgery Isn’t an option due to being 7cm and in lymph nodes.

I think I sort of expected he wouldn’t be ok for treatment as he is only 7.5 stone and has severe spine curvature, osteoporosis, arthritis and asthma. They have said just palliative care and potentially radiotherapy to manage symptom as they arise. No biopsy needed as it wouldn’t change the prognosis. Does that sound about right… should I be asking for anything else?? He is only 64 and I feel they almost as if they write people off. May just be me clutching at straws

[nlg1405]

Hi Smersh

So sorry to hear about your dad. Maybe you could ask about immunotherapy treatment or any other clinical trials? Immunotherapy side effects are not always quite so harsh as chemo.

X

[sassassas]

Hi Smersh I'm sorry to hear about your dad. I don't think you're clutching at straws.... in my opinion, it does sound odd that they won't do a biopsy. As well as finding out precisely the type of cancer, they use a biopsy to understand if a targeted therapy or immunotherapy are likely to work well. Both of these treatments tend to be less brutal than chemo (my husband is on an immunotherapy and a biologic and has pretty much no side effects).

If your dad isn't well enough for a biopsy, you could ask about a 'liquid biopsy' - they take a sample of blood and send it to the US for analysis. In the blood, they can analysis the DNA from the tumour to get these results.

I would definitely recommended getting another consultation with his oncologist to ask these questions. You could also phone the Roy Castle helpline - they are much more qualified than I am to offer advice!

Best wishes to you and your dad.

Sarah x

[RoyCastleHelpline Partner Ask the Nurse Roy Castle]

Hi Smersh

So sorry to hear about your Dad and how difficult this must be for you all.

Stage 3 would not normally come under palliative care, and having asthma, arthritis and osteoporosis would not normally exclude you from treatment, however if he is underweight then that could be a factor. You may wish to ask for further clarification from the oncologist or lung cancer nurse specialist, and ask about a biopsy.

You could ask for a second opinion through the NHS, either through your dads GP or oncologist.

We have a range of support services, from one to one support to online support groups through zoom , if you are interested in any of these you can register through this link: roycastle.org/help-and-supp...

We offer a one off grant of up to £150 for anyone with lung cancer and you can apply for this through this link: roycastle.org/patient-grant...

If there is anything else you would like to discuss you can email ask the nurse at [e-mail] or call our free phone nurse led helpline number on 0800 358 7200 Monday to Thursday 0900-1700 and Friday 0900-1600

Kind regards

The Roy Castle Support Team