How long can stage 4 lung cancer patients live without treatment?

Posted by denise96 @denise96, Feb 2, 2025

My husband was officially diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in Sept 2024. He went for one treatment in December and the last one on Jan 2 of this year. He decided then that he would not take any more treatments because they made him very sick. Shortly afterwards, I got Hospice involved. So since he no longer sees any doctors, I have no idea whether or not his cancer has spread or anything else that may be going on in his body. Guess that is how hospice works. They are the only ones he sees and those are nurses. No blood work or anything. This is all new to me and I am not sure how a person with this type of cancer should be. He only sits in his recliner and watches TV. He can walk to the kitchen and make his own coffee or microwave a meal. I would gladly make him food, but he just wants to do it himself. But other than that, he does nothing else except count his pills. He is obsessed with his pain pills. Oh, and he clears his throat constantly. He said he can't swallow the phlegm that collects in his throat. He has been taking more than he should and today the hospice nurse brought a lockbox but she also said that he did not need to use it. twice they have noticed that the pain pills have been short way before they should have been which is no surprise to me as he is and always a pain pill addict. I worry that he is going to keep taking more and then hospice will not help him anymore. The nurse told me that this morning. They keep a very close on his meds as they should. But back to my original question. How long can a cancer patient live without treatment? He only weighs 90 pounds and can only eat a little at a time. He does get confused as to dates, etc. I have heard of people who lived a long time with lung cancer but I don't know if they had done all the treatments or not, And how was their lifestyle? My husband does nothing pretty much. He can't go in the car or visit anyone. And I pray that he does not abuse his pills because I could not stand to see him suffer for months without pain meds. I realize that only God knows the days of our death, but I want to know what to watch for, how will i know if his kidneys start to shut down, etc., and how many months he has. A general idea would be great. It scares me and the day to day is hard. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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Lisa, Volunteer Mentor | @lls8000 | Aug 6, 2025

In reply to @susies215 "I am doing dual immunotherapy and getting ready to also start chemotherapy. I have squamous type..." + (show)

@susies215, Wishing you well as you add the chemo to your treatment regimen. Hugs.

susies215 | @susies215 | Aug 7, 2025

In reply to @lls8000 "@susies215, Wishing you well as you add the chemo to your treatment regimen. Hugs." + (show)

Thank you

marybcc | @marybcc | Nov 3, 2025

Prayers for your family. My brother newly treated for nsclc stage 4,
Doctors did not suggest but approved him taking mucinex over the counter for the phlegm and it is helping. Sometimes a simple treatment for a symptom
Is overlooked by dr which can relieve pain or discomfort.
Also on hospice a patient can see drs and get any treatment which helps with pain and or discomfort. Even if treatment also could be considered life extending. Anything “palliative” can be prescribed. My mom on hospice continued chemo for anemia, because the anemia made her cold and fatigued and weak. It was an extremely expensive treatment but she was entitled to it. Please try not to be afraid to advocate for treatment that will ease any pain or suffering.

unknown0506 | @unknown0506 | May 29 8:31pm

In reply to @lls8000 "Hi Denise @denise96 , That's a hard question to answer, as each patient is different, and..." + (show)

@lls8000

Hi Denise @denise96 , That's a hard question to answer, as each patient is different, and there are many types of lung cancer too, some more aggressive than others. With his weight being so low and his history of not taking the best care of himself, he likely doesn't have much in his reserves. You are certainly keeping a close eye on him, and you'll notice changes.

He's sleeping a lot, but that's not too usual. The lack of balance that you've mentioned is of interest but may be from the medications, not from any type of tumor. You'll likely see more traditional lung cancer symptoms at first, such as a non-traditional cough, hoarseness, or wheezing. It may be hard to assess new pain; usually abdominal, back or bone.

From my personal experience, I believe my lung cancer was growing for (at least) months, if not years before I felt it. There's no way to know. I was not eligible for lung screening, so mine was stage IV before I knew about it. I started with a cough that came with a chest spasm that made it hard to talk. Once it started to spread and my immune system just couldn't keep up, it took over very quickly. Within two months I went from having a slight cough to being in pretty rough shape. At that time, I didn't think I would make it another 2 months. Then the doctors found a treatment that worked for my type of lung cancer, a specific gene-mutation based lung cancer called ALK Positive. Alectinib (Alecensa) was like a magic pill for me, and I'm still here 4+ years later.

There's just no way to know what the rest of his life (or any of our lives) will look like. As I mentioned, I think you'll see changes that will be notable. We have no idea how long it will be before you start noticing those changes. Remind me, was his cancer metastatic when it was diagnosed? Was he experiencing any symptoms at that time?

My PSA, if you qualify for lung screening take advantage of that benefit. If you don't qualify, but are ever offered a simple chest x-ray do it!

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@lls8000 what was the "magic pill" they gave you?

Lisa, Volunteer Mentor | @lls8000 | May 30 7:58pm

In reply to @unknown0506 "@lls8000 what was the "magic pill" they gave you?" + (show)

Hi @unknown0506, welcome to Mayo Connect. I have a specific type of non-small cell lung cancer that is caused by a mutation in the ALK gene of my cells. There is a targeted therapy (pills) that can combat the cancer. It will work or a limited time, but I've been able to surpass the expectation, and I'm still on that as a first-line treatment six years later. This type of gene mutation is found through biomarker testing of a biopsy sample.
Have you or someone you know been diagnosed with lung cancer? What treatments are being recommended?

crisatl | @crisatl | Jun 1 10:53am

Dear Becky,
I am sorry about all that you’re going through. I know it is so tough! They say (I’ll never claim it!) what I am dealing with is LSSCLC, so I cannot speak to the specific treatments they are giving you. So far I’ve had radiation and chemo, and now I am scheduled to start two years of monthly immunotherapy infusions. Because the chemo targets fast growing cells, I did lose my hair. (I tell a funny story about how that all happened!) My hope is to encourage you to not consider losing your hair when considering what kind of treatments to do. If you lose it, it will grow back!!!!!! But no one needs to see it! NO ONE has seen my bare head! You can either wear wigs (a group here in Atlanta gave me 4), a friend gave me scarfs, and I purchased about 5 caps on Temu that I get a lot of compliments on that match my outfits! (I like these caps the best and I sleep in them!)

I did contact The American Cancer Society who gave me a list of organizations to reach out to for advice or aid.

I hope this helps in some small way!

Cristal

lijda | @lijda | Jun 2 9:28am

Apologies. I have deleted a comment I added because I was responding to the original post instead of to the comment from bionicbeckyrocks. I have now added my comment as a response to bionicbeckyrocks. I think Denzie is right, the comment from bionicbeckyrocks should be a new discussion.

bionicbeckyrocks | @bionicbeckyrocks | Jun 2 11:43am

Thank you so much for breaking down your experience. I just sit at home every day and ache everywhere. The headaches are terrible. I don’t know if the traditional chemo is the right route for me but I know it will cover the new mutation. Any help with nausea? Zofran and reglan aren’t working. Any ideas would be helpful

shellfinder | @shellfinder | Jun 4 9:16pm

Hi,
My boyfriend has stage 4 nsclc and this past week decided to discontinue his treatments also. My first thought was why hospice and not palitive care?
With palitive care he can still see doctors and get treatment if he chooses. Not to mention, he is Not locked into hospice, he can request to go into palitive care and stop Hospice. When the time comes for hospice, you will know!!
If he has (or had) a pain management doctor they can prescribe his pain medicine for him if he's in palitive care and your husband's primary care or oncologist can order a PET scan every 3 months so you can keep track of the cancers progress. But remember if he ever begins to get severe headaches, the PET scan won't show if the cancer has moved to his brain. He will need an MRI.
PLEASE DO NOT be too judgemental on the use of his pain pills as we don't actually know the extent of their pain.
Some days are better then others. There's a possibility that they may need to increase the strength or change what he's taking to help his pain.
At the present time, my boyfriend isn't in either palitive care or hospice. His oncologist has recommended him for palitive care so that if he changes his mind he can continue treatments or just keep an eye on the progression.
Keep the faith and enjoy the time you have with him. Love him through it and be there for him.
Hopefully this helps a little...
Sylvia

Lisa, Volunteer Mentor | @lls8000 | Jun 5 1:21pm

In reply to @shellfinder "Hi, My boyfriend has stage 4 nsclc and this past week decided to discontinue his treatments..." + (show)

Sylvia, @shellfinder . I'm sorry to hear that your boyfriend is facing this difficult decision. He's fortunate to have you by his side. I'm sure your guidance and love are helpful. Hugs.

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