1. < Lung Cancer

Immunotherapy: How many lung cancer patients are 5 yrs post diagnosis?

Posted by stormmayo1 @stormmayo1, Feb 6 12:16pm

How many lung cancer patients here have lived beyond 5 years with Stage II, III, or IV non small cell lung cancer??

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Lung Cancer Support Group.

Mentor
Lisa, Volunteer Mentor | @lls8000 | Mar 2 8:53am
In reply to @sanyogita15 "Thank you Lisa. Ya my husband n family are there. The surgery went well. In the..." + (show)
@sanyogita15

Thank you Lisa. Ya my husband n family are there. The surgery went well. In the hospital it was very good. Almost painless. But once i reached home i got a bit of cough . While talking i get. The doc did a xray but was okay. A bit of heaviness on the right side is there ...i am just 45 n i never had any addiction plus i have been a sports person also. Dont understand how i got it. My moms mom had cancer of colon so may be genetic. I want to find peers so am here. The dic has suggested 4 cycles of chemo n then if lung panel report is positive he said pills daily for 3 years...details they will tell later..i had taken 1 week leave n tgen started working from home. But fully healed i dont feel yet after 2 weeks too. I just wanted to know if you have a watsapp group. If yes i f you can add me to it.

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Hi @sanyogita15, it sounds like you’ve done remarkably well after surgery. A cough and some pain is expected, your body has been through a lot and will need some time to heal.
Being so young and low-risk for lung cancer, you may have a gene mutation. I’ll be interested to hear the results of the testing. There are many of us here that have one of those types of lung cancer (EGFR, ALK, RET, etc.). While no one deserves cancer, there is likely nothing that you did to cause this, and it may not even be genetic from your mother. Sometimes biology makes mistakes and our immune systems just aren’t able to fix us. I’m sorry that you are facing this, there are many of us that understand what you are going through.

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2 replies
denzie | @denzie | Mar 2 9:21am
In reply to @sanyogita15 "Hi People, I am new to the group, am from Bangalore, India and recently got robotic..." + (show)
@sanyogita15

Hi People, I am new to the group, am from Bangalore, India and recently got robotic done for Stage 2 lung Cancer. Chemo to begin next month. Anyone with the same stage.

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Welcome! Please know you may get more responses if you start a new post.

I send hope for continued good health.

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sanyogita15 | @sanyogita15 | Mar 2 10:17am
In reply to @lls8000 "Hi @sanyogita15, it sounds like you’ve done remarkably well after surgery. A cough and some pain..." + (show)
@lls8000

Hi @sanyogita15, it sounds like you’ve done remarkably well after surgery. A cough and some pain is expected, your body has been through a lot and will need some time to heal.
Being so young and low-risk for lung cancer, you may have a gene mutation. I’ll be interested to hear the results of the testing. There are many of us here that have one of those types of lung cancer (EGFR, ALK, RET, etc.). While no one deserves cancer, there is likely nothing that you did to cause this, and it may not even be genetic from your mother. Sometimes biology makes mistakes and our immune systems just aren’t able to fix us. I’m sorry that you are facing this, there are many of us that understand what you are going through.

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Thanks a lot for your kind n reassuring words. I will let you know once my lung panel test results come in.

My best wishes to all people here.

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sanyogita15 | @sanyogita15 | Mar 10 1:23am
In reply to @lls8000 "Hi @sanyogita15, it sounds like you’ve done remarkably well after surgery. A cough and some pain..." + (show)
@lls8000

Hi @sanyogita15, it sounds like you’ve done remarkably well after surgery. A cough and some pain is expected, your body has been through a lot and will need some time to heal.
Being so young and low-risk for lung cancer, you may have a gene mutation. I’ll be interested to hear the results of the testing. There are many of us here that have one of those types of lung cancer (EGFR, ALK, RET, etc.). While no one deserves cancer, there is likely nothing that you did to cause this, and it may not even be genetic from your mother. Sometimes biology makes mistakes and our immune systems just aren’t able to fix us. I’m sorry that you are facing this, there are many of us that understand what you are going through.

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Hi my NGS lung panel repirt has come n its EGFR L858R. I have meet doc next week for chemo n other treatment update. He had suggested 4 cycles chemo first...but i took a second opinion n that doc said chemo not needed. I will now take one more opinion as both docs have different opinions. The doc who advised chemo said we give chemo to stage more than 1.

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2 replies
sg | @sglaza | Mar 10 1:06pm
In reply to @sanyogita15 "Hi my NGS lung panel repirt has come n its EGFR L858R. I have meet doc..." + (show)
@sanyogita15

Hi my NGS lung panel repirt has come n its EGFR L858R. I have meet doc next week for chemo n other treatment update. He had suggested 4 cycles chemo first...but i took a second opinion n that doc said chemo not needed. I will now take one more opinion as both docs have different opinions. The doc who advised chemo said we give chemo to stage more than 1.

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Hello sanyogita,
After my right lower lobectomy surgery it was also recommended to me to have 4 rounds of chemo (I was diagnosed as stage 2A). I believe my oncologist said that the chemo would perhaps increase my survivability by 5%…….that may not seem like a lot to some people but at the time I was going to throw everything that I could against that cancer coming back. I was only able to complete 3 of the 4 cycles of cisplatin/permextred due to some kidney toxicity that was caused. I then started my daily treatments on Tagrisso.
Chemo isn’t easy……the immediate effects are manageable but can wear you down…..plus the time involved in getting each treatment cycle. However I understood the thought process involving the chemo and decided it was worth it at the time.
Would I choose that option again???……..I really don’t know but would probably take my oncologist advice. Hope this helps.

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sanyogita15 | @sanyogita15 | Mar 10 10:22pm

Thanks dear. Here doctors give very good prognosis for 1 and 2 stages but online studies say something else. May be the recent studies are yet to be done basis the new advancements in science which include targeted n immunotherapies. Thanx for your valuable feedback though and my best wishes to you for a long and healthy life.

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Mentor
Lisa, Volunteer Mentor | @lls8000 | Mar 11 1:09pm
In reply to @sanyogita15 "Hi my NGS lung panel repirt has come n its EGFR L858R. I have meet doc..." + (show)
@sanyogita15

Hi my NGS lung panel repirt has come n its EGFR L858R. I have meet doc next week for chemo n other treatment update. He had suggested 4 cycles chemo first...but i took a second opinion n that doc said chemo not needed. I will now take one more opinion as both docs have different opinions. The doc who advised chemo said we give chemo to stage more than 1.

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@sanyogita15, I'm glad to hear that your NGS testing came back, and that result can now help to guide your care. I'm not an expert or a medical professional. Combining targeted therapies with chemo and/or radiation seems to be more common now, especially for early stage cancers. There is a risk that the targeted therapy won't be a good match for your specific EGFR mutation, in that case you would likely be having chemo. Be sure to get all of your questions answered from the doctors. It's a difficult decision when they are suggesting such different treatment plans.
Also, remember that the prognosis statistics are not your specific story. Many of us are outliving our initial prognosis. I have the ALK mutation (stage 4), and I just celebrated 4 years.

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1 reply
sanyogita15 | @sanyogita15 | Mar 11 10:10pm
In reply to @lls8000 "@sanyogita15, I'm glad to hear that your NGS testing came back, and that result can now..." + (show)
@lls8000

@sanyogita15, I'm glad to hear that your NGS testing came back, and that result can now help to guide your care. I'm not an expert or a medical professional. Combining targeted therapies with chemo and/or radiation seems to be more common now, especially for early stage cancers. There is a risk that the targeted therapy won't be a good match for your specific EGFR mutation, in that case you would likely be having chemo. Be sure to get all of your questions answered from the doctors. It's a difficult decision when they are suggesting such different treatment plans.
Also, remember that the prognosis statistics are not your specific story. Many of us are outliving our initial prognosis. I have the ALK mutation (stage 4), and I just celebrated 4 years.

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Hi@lls8000 : So happy to hear that you are in the process of conquering
cancer for last 4 years. More power to you. I had consulted a doc who said
chemo not required and you can go for tagrisso targeted therapy as you have
the EGFR mutation. But in India tagrisso is very expensive and not quite
affordable. But the primary doctor where we did the surgery has suggested
chemo first and later on targeted therapy. We still need to meet him and
talk about targeted this week. The chemo would start only after 1 month of
surgery. So, by last week of this month my chemo will start. Can you throw
some light on your chemo experience? What to expect and how to prepare for
it.

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1 reply
Mentor
Lisa, Volunteer Mentor | @lls8000 | Mar 14 10:46am
In reply to @sanyogita15 "Hi@lls8000 : So happy to hear that you are in the process of conquering cancer for..." + (show)
@sanyogita15

Hi@lls8000 : So happy to hear that you are in the process of conquering
cancer for last 4 years. More power to you. I had consulted a doc who said
chemo not required and you can go for tagrisso targeted therapy as you have
the EGFR mutation. But in India tagrisso is very expensive and not quite
affordable. But the primary doctor where we did the surgery has suggested
chemo first and later on targeted therapy. We still need to meet him and
talk about targeted this week. The chemo would start only after 1 month of
surgery. So, by last week of this month my chemo will start. Can you throw
some light on your chemo experience? What to expect and how to prepare for
it.

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Hi @sanyogita15, in the US, treatment plans differ based on the stage of the cancer, I am stage IV, so I went straight to the targeted therapy, and did not have chemo or radiation. I’ll have to take the meds forever, as there is no cure at this stage.
The targeted therapy medications are very expensive. I’m fortunate to have insurance that pays for almost the full cost.
Many people here have been through chemo. Here are links to a couple of past posts that may be helpful:

https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/chemo-before-tagrisso-or-not-need-info-but-where-do-i-start/
And: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/chemo-experiences/

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