negative results from bronchoscopy

on behalf of my father, he had a bronchoscopy yesterday and the results came back negative as they could not get a big enough biopsy, as the tumour is located too far down around by the lymphnode glands just below or around right bronchus pipe. would you suggest that chemo or radium the best treatment for the tumour if it is proven to be malignant

could you give me some advise please

thanks

[bhumi123]

Hello,

I am sorry to hear that the bronchoscopy was inconclusive. As to the treatment options - it depends on the type and location of tumour and its spread. Broadly there are two types of malignant tumours - the non small cell lung cancers for which surgery is the first option in early stage, and chemotherapy in later stages; radiotherapy is used in inoperable cases. The other type - small cell lung cancers usually have chemotherapy as the first treatment option anf adjuvant radiotherapy ( chemotherapy+radiotherapy) as the other.
Having said that the treating physician needs to be consulted and his opinion taken as to what he feels is the best option for the patient in the given circumstances depending on the site, type and extent of tumour.
You should also be prepared that the prognosis is usually not very good and 5 year survival rates very low in cases of malignant lung cancers.