What's the latest in pancreatic Stage 4 cancer treatment?
Cancer - 4 Answers
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1 :
Unfortunately, nothing. My aunt was diagnosed in June and passed in October.
2 :
Stage 4 pancreatic cancer can be divided into two stages.Stage IVa is when the cancer is locally confined but involves adjacent organs or blood vessels making it impossible to surgically remove.StageIV b is metastatic disease,where the cancer has spread to other organs usually the liver.Stage IVa patients can be given a disease free period that can last months to years but,they definitely will not be cured.IVb patients the goal is to help the symptoms and alleviate pain as well as maintain nutrition..Chemo therapy,palliative surgery or chemo/radiation is usually used in stage IVa patients if the performance status of the patient is good.Gemzar is usually the standard drug.IVb there are several procedures that are used to help alleviate pain.There are some clinical trials looking at biological therapy,gene therapy and photo dynamic therapy.Unfortunately,not much progress has been made with this particular cancer.
3 :
A co-worker was diagniosed with pancreatic cancer and given only months to live two years ago. There were at least five in his family that was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and he is the only one that has survived so far. He is in a test group at John's Hopkins in NYC and is the first person on this type of drug that he has been taking for a year. He is working most days, has his bad days but he is still alive. This is a horrible cancer that isn't ususally found early due to there not being many signs. Please keep in mind that he is one out of five in his family that has survived, although he was the only one on this drug. Another note, I was diagnosed with cancer March 2006 which was located on my pancreas and my liver. After chemo which was last summer, my liver is cancer free and I will be having surgery to remove what is left on my pancreas in a couple of weeks. Don't want to give you misinformation nor false hope, everyone is different so no cancer patient treatment works exactly the same. I passed by all the doctor's that said no hope and chose the one that said I can help. My thoughts, if a doctor says no hope he wont push to try everything to help; if a doctor says I can help at least he is going to try and not give up before trying. Don't settle for one opinion, get as many as you can handle hearing. During my search my Dad gave up going with me because he couldn't deal with it, personally I kept looking because I wasn't ready to give up. The doctor that I chose, Dr. Joseph Navone in Syracuse, NY, his view point, there is never no hope as long as your alive. My view point, if they can give me a year, there is always a chance a new drug or cure will be found in that year, I'll take whatever I can get. And I thank God for every day I wake and am alive. One more thing I think that helps, a positive doctor and a positive cancer patient. I truly believe that being positive is a big part of getting through this.
4 :
sorry to say with stage 4 pancreatic cancer 5 years survival rate is 5 percent
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Title : What's the latest in pancreatic Stage 4 cancer treatment
Description : What's the latest in pancreatic Stage 4 cancer treatment? Cancer - 4 Answers Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions : 1 : Un...