MY DAD WAS DIAGNOSED W/ LUNG CANCER

[blessedmomof3]

Hello, my dad just told me today he was diagnosed w/ Lung Cancer. I am very concerned. He said they scanned his whole body and only found one small spot on his lung. Everything I read on it does not sound good, but since they just found the one small spot does it mean he has a better chance? What are his chances???? His brother died 2 years ago from this and his dad died 15 years ago from it.

[blessedmomof3]

Thank you so much for responding to me. You have given us hope we weren't sure we had.

[PaulMD]

Hi there.

While the diagnosis of lung cancer is indeed of concern, the good thing is that the disease seems to be localized to a small spot.  This is indeed better than catching the disease late or in wide-spread state.  

With a disease this localized, he can undergo a surgical procedure to remove the tumor and part of the lung, then later undergo adjuvant chemotherapy to better improve his chances of survival.

Survival will depend on resectability and this can be as high as 40-60% in five years, which is far better than the dismal 13% in 2 years for those who had wide spread disease.

Regards and god bless.