lung cancer final weeks

 patients are usually faced with the unpleasant perception of symptoms and complications associated with the disease. This stage of the disease may cause major physical and mental changes in patients. In the following, we will mention some common signs and symptoms in the final weeks of lung cancer.

Weakness and fatigue: Patients may feel very tired and generally weak. This is usually due to nutritional deficiencies, decreased lung function, and the disease's effect on the immune system.

Respiratory problems: Lung cancer can cause breathing problems. In the final weeks, patients may experience shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, severe coughing, bleeding from the lungs, or a feeling of suffocation.

Pain: Pain in the chest and lung area is also a common complication in the final weeks of lung cancer. This pain may be chronic and intermittent and can be controlled using painkillers and drug treatments.

Severe loss of appetite: In the final weeks, patients may almost lose interest in food and suffer from a severe loss of appetite. This usually happens because of the complications of the disease and the side effects of the treatments they may be taking.

Dehydration: Patients may face problems related to maintaining and controlling water in the body in the final weeks. Dehydration can cause swelling in the limbs, fatigue and discomfort.

Mental and emotional changes: In the final weeks, patients may experience severe mental and emotional changes. This includes depression, anxiety, stress, anger, reluctance to socialize, or mental fatigue.

Palliative care: In the final weeks, palliative care may be considered to improve the patient's quality of life. This includes providing pain relievers to reduce pain, supportive care to help with breathing, nutritional care to maintain nutritional status, and psychosocial support to help cope with mental and emotional changes.

It is important to know that each person and each disease situation is unique and symptoms and complications may be different for each person. In case of any worrisome symptoms or complications, it is important to consult your doctor so that he can give you the necessary guidance and prescribe the appropriate care.

What are the symptoms of lung cancer?

The symptoms of advanced lung cancer are:

a cough that does not go away and tends to get worse, or even produces bloody sputum;

chest pain that increases during coughing;

wheezing and shortness of breath on exertion;

hoarseness of the voice that does not disappear after a few weeks;

recurrent respiratory infections.

In the most advanced cases, we observe fatigue, nausea, weight loss, bone pain or vision problems.

How does lung cancer progress?

Today, in France, five-year survival after a diagnosis of lung cancer is 14% (13% in men, 18% in women), making it one of the most difficult cancers to treat. .

In the absence of treatment, cancer cells will migrate into the bloodstream to settle and multiply in the liver, bones, brain, etc. These secondary tumors are called “metastases”.

Certain elements can guide the prognosis:

the appearance of the tumor: a large tumor will be more difficult to treat;

invasion of the lung by cancer cells signals greater severity;

the microscopic particularities of the tumor and the speed of proliferation of cancer cells (their “mitotic index”) also influence the prognosis;

as with all cancers, the presence of metastases in other organs is a sign of greater seriousness.

Stages of progression (lung cancer final weeks)

Depending on the results of additional examinations, the doctor can determine the stage of progression of lung cancer (which determines its prognosis and treatment).

For non-small cell lung cancers, it uses a so-called “TNM” classification which takes into account aspects of the lung tumor, the possible presence of cancer cells in the lymph nodes, and the possible existence of metastases. Depending on the result of this classification, non-small cell lung cancers are said to be “progressive stage 0, Ia (1, 2 or 3), Ib, IIa, IIb, IIIa, IIIb, IIIc, IVa or IVb”, of increasing severity.

Small cell lung cancers are classified into “localized” and “disseminated.”