1. < Lung Cancer

Stage 4 likely - what are the treatment options if surgery is not one?

Posted by strongone21 @strongone21, Jul 7 5:26pm

Recently diagnosed from a PET scan that a large nodule, lymph node and some metastatic presence affecting tissues around spine and ribs. No symptoms at all other than a mild diaphragm area pain. With the metastatic nature I am worried about treatment options if removing nodule/lymph node will not help. Any experience from a stage 4 lung cancer in terms of survival rates? Please share any relevant experience that might help me. Thank you

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kakalena | @kakalena | 5 days ago
In reply to @kakalena "Waiting to hear on continuation of Opdiva. I started with 2 treatments of carboplatin and paraplegic..." + (show)
@kakalena

Waiting to hear on continuation of Opdiva. I started with 2 treatments of carboplatin and paraplegic chemo drugs along with the immuno drugs to knock the cancer down. Also, I have been receiving abraxane and gemcitabine since Feb. 2025. I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in January not a metastases of the lung cancer. Oncologist said that the silver lining was that it works on lung cancer too. It's very rough. Not sure what , if anything, it did to lung stuff.

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Paraplatin, not paraplegic, but I may have misspelled.

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strongone21 | @strongone21 | 1 day ago
In reply to @kakalena "I was diagnosed with stagr IV adenocarcinoma carcinoma of the lungs. Surgery was not an option...." + (show)
@kakalena

I was diagnosed with stagr IV adenocarcinoma carcinoma of the lungs. Surgery was not an option. I have been receiving immunotherapy of yervoy and opdiva since Feb. 2023. Discontinued the yervoy in July 2024 due to unexplained side effects. Oncologist explained that the treatment was paliative, not curative. As of 5/30 this year after robotic etc biopsies, they found cancer only in one lymph node. The immunotherapy has been tolerable. Oncologist also said he has a 94 year old patient who has been on sa.e treatment for 10 years and is doing well. Still waiting to hear what's next.

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@kakalena My dr has recommended Carboplatin + pemetrexed + pembrolizumab. Has anyone else used this combo and what's your experience been with keeping cancer in control? I do not have EGFR, ALK etc. so there are no fda approved targets at this point.

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strongone21 | @strongone21 | 1 day ago
In reply to @mamajite "Many types of lung cancer are eligible for something called targeted therapy, which is essentially a..." + (show)
@mamajite

Many types of lung cancer are eligible for something called targeted therapy, which is essentially a drug that works on your specific kind of cancer to stop it from growing. Like Matthew mentioned, I am also taking Tagrisso, which is a drug that targets EGFR mutations. I hope your biopsy went well and that you get all the information you need quickly. Keep us posted.

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@mamajite Biomarkers result shows only KRAS G12D, for which there is no approved targeted therapy yet :(. Only pending is Tempus test which I am not sure if its going to change anything.

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mamajite | @mamajite | 1 day ago

@strongone21 how do you feel about the chemo regimen your oncologist is proposing? Are you able to get a second opinion?

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2 replies
strongone21 | @strongone21 | 15 hours ago
In reply to @mamajite "@strongone21 how do you feel about the chemo regimen your oncologist is proposing? Are you able..." + (show)
@mamajite

@strongone21 how do you feel about the chemo regimen your oncologist is proposing? Are you able to get a second opinion?

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Got 2 opinions and both align on chemo regimen.

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1 reply
shellfinder | @shellfinder | 12 hours ago
In reply to @mamajite "@strongone21 how do you feel about the chemo regimen your oncologist is proposing? Are you able..." + (show)
@mamajite

@strongone21 how do you feel about the chemo regimen your oncologist is proposing? Are you able to get a second opinion?

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I'm one that doesn't do any medication, but I haven't had to make that choice for myself... at least not yet. I honestly think he really isn't sure about the treatments yet, mainly because it's not a guarantee to him being healed. He's actually weighing the out come of treatment at 50/50 chance of working or 14 to 18 months no treatment. He hasn't sought out a second opinion yet and actually only has 1 full week to get that. Hopefully he can make that decision.
His treatment will be 3 or 4 rounds of chemo and immunotherapy every 3 weeks.
Praying your treatment is a success!

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mamajite | @mamajite | 5 hours ago
In reply to @strongone21 "Got 2 opinions and both align on chemo regimen." + (show)
@strongone21

Got 2 opinions and both align on chemo regimen.

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While it's not the news you wanted, it's good to know the treatment plan is consistently recommended as the best option for you. One thing that I find helpful (and hopeful) is to focus on surviving in the present, because new cancer therapies are constantly in development.

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1 reply
strongone21 | @strongone21 | 4 hours ago
In reply to @mamajite "While it's not the news you wanted, it's good to know the treatment plan is consistently..." + (show)
@mamajite

While it's not the news you wanted, it's good to know the treatment plan is consistently recommended as the best option for you. One thing that I find helpful (and hopeful) is to focus on surviving in the present, because new cancer therapies are constantly in development.

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Agree, thank you. Hoping we get some targeted therapies soon.

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mamajite | @mamajite | 2 hours ago
In reply to @strongone21 "Agree, thank you. Hoping we get some targeted therapies soon." + (show)
@strongone21

Agree, thank you. Hoping we get some targeted therapies soon.

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Absolutely - me, too! Here's one encouraging clinical trial for a drug called zoldonrasib.
https://www.cancerhealth.com/article/zoldonrasib-elicits-objective-responses-patients-kras-g12dmutated-lung-cancer

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