In short
- With metastatic lung cancer you will no longer get better.
- Treatment has advantages and disadvantages.
- They can reduce complaints and sometimes prolong life.
- It is uncertain beforehand whether the treatment will work for you.
- Losses are the side effects and energy and the time they spend on you.
- You choose what suits you best.
- In the last phase of life, many people feel it is important to finish life well and not be involved in care.
Living with metastatic lung cancer
If you hear that you are no longer getting better, it is often very difficult. The future is uncertain, you do not know how long you have to live, what plans you can and can not do, how long you stay fit enough to do what you want to do.
Quality of life is most important to most people in this situation.
Together with your pulmonologist you discuss the possibility of inhibiting the disease and ensuring that you can do as much as you want as long as possible.
Complaints in metastatic lung cancer
Because lung cancer you can suffer from illness, cough, shortness of breath, anxiety and blood loss. What complaints you have next depends on where the metastasis is located.Possible symptoms with metastasis in the brain:
- headache
- problems with memory, with concentration and reflection
- dropout: paralysis, loss of strength, unstable, language problems, problems with seeing and hearing
- epileptic seizures
- changes in behavior
Possible complaints with bone metastasis:
- pain in bone
- weakening bones that make it break easily
- paraplegia (partial). It can suppress the spinal cord as metastasis in the vertebrae.
Choose treatment for metastatic lung cancer
It is important to discuss your wishes with your pulmonologist. What is important to you?
Because of the treatment that slows the cancer, you can live (slightly) longer. But that is uncertain.
Treatment is often severe. Because of the side effects, but also because of the time and energy they cost.
Together you will check whether the benefits of care outweigh the harm to you.
Treatment of metastatic lung cancer
There are several options for metastatic lung cancer:
- chemotherapy
- irradiation
- targeted therapy
- immunotherapy
- irradiation
- combination of treatments
- painkiller
It could be your pulmonologist asking if you would like to participate in a new nursing investigation. If you are interested, you will first receive extensive information (oral and written).
Chemotherapy in metastatic lung cancer
Chemotherapy is a treatment with drugs. Medicines can kill cancer cells or prevent them from sharing.
You receive chemotherapy in the program: every few weeks you receive the drug through an IV. The number of courses varies per person; usually it is 4 courses (every 3 weeks of healing). After that, you may be able to continue with a smaller amount of chemotherapy (maintenance dose).
Drugs also damage healthy cells. This can cause harmful side effects:
- hair loss
- nausea and diarrhea
- more susceptible to infection
- severe fatigue
After chemotherapy there is a chance that you will get symptoms and these complaints are not bad. You may live longer. This is all uncertain.
Targeted therapy for metastatic lung cancer
Targeted therapy is a drug that can kill cancer cells or make them less likely to share.
This treatment is suitable for 1 in 10 people. Cancer cells should be sensitive to drugs. It depends on cancer DNA. It checks the pulmonologist first (in the blood or a piece of tumor).
Therapy often consists of the pills you drink every day.
This therapy can significantly increase life expectancy.
Targeted therapy has fewer side effects than chemotherapy. Side effects of targeted therapy may include:
- diarrhea
- fatigue
- skin rash (acne)
- sometimes nausea
If you have many side effects, your doctor will lower the dose.
Immunotherapy for metastatic lung cancer
If the disease recurs or worsens after chemotherapy, immunotherapy may be a possibility.
Immunotherapy strengthens your immune system. As a result, your immune system can kill cancer cells better.
Immunotherapy has a long-term effect in 2 out of 10 people with metastatic lung cancer. Then you feel better and you live longer. Unfortunately, it is impossible to predict whether immunotherapy also works for you.
Side effects can be:
- diarrhea
- itchy
- fatigue
- out of breath
Ask your doctor what you can do about the side effects.
Irradiation of metastatic lung cancer
Irradiation can reduce the symptoms that cause metastasis. For example headaches due to metastasis to the head, coughing up blood or bone pain due to metastasis in bone.
Side effects of radiation may be:
- fatigue
- burning sensation during swallowing
- mild skin irritation
- shortness of breath and tickling cough
Reduces pain in metastatic lung cancer
There are several ways to ensure that you have as little pain as possible:
- painkillers
- irradiation
Sometimes the pain occurs because the tumor presses around the tissue. So doctors can try to reduce the tumor by radiation. If you succeed, you will have less pain.
Medicine for depression and epilepsy
For some types of pain, such as bone or nerve pain, depression-fighting drugs seem to work well as pain relievers. Also drugs for epilepsy can help.
Disable the nerves that pass through the pain (nerve block)
This can be done by heating, freezing or by injecting chemicals around the nerve. It prevents pain from entering the brain. You will not feel the painful spot again.
Can I ask for a second opinion?
You may also want to hear from other doctors how he thinks about your situation: second opinion.
Then you can ask your lung doctor for referral to another doctor. Your lung doctor understands that. It is important for your lung specialist to submit all your data to another doctor.
Guide to metastatic lung cancer
It could be that the treatment becomes too heavy for you at any given moment. You may not want to go to the hospital (again). You may find other things more important now, such as spending your time in the most fun way.
You may decide to stop treatment at any time. It helps to discuss this decision with your spouse, children, friends, doctors, or pulmonologists.
It is also good to talk to them about what you think is important in the final phase of life. It gives you peace of mind if you know that your doctor and your loved ones know what your wants and limits are. You may be thinking about euthanasia. You can discuss this with your doctor.
In the last months of your life (terminal phase) your doctor will do as much as possible to reduce pain and suffering.
When to contact metastatic lung cancer?
Are you worried about your complaints? Then contact your doctor or lung specialist.
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