What is Stage Four Lung Cancer?

There are four stages to non small cell lung cancers, and in stage four lung cancers, the tumor has spread from the lung where it started to other parts of the body. When a tumor spreads like this, it is called a metastatic tumor.

Nearly 40% of all lung cancer patients have already reached stage four when they are first diagnosed. The reason for this is that lung cancer symptoms are not a unique set of symptoms, and so are not recognized as such until one or other of the symptoms takes the person to their doctor for investigation.

The symptoms of a tumor on the lung may include:

• A persistent cough
• Hemptysis – coughing up blood
• Being short of breath
• Pain in the chest, arms or back
• Hoarseness
• wheezing
• Repeat attacks of bronchitis or pneumonia

When a tumor has metastasized to other parts of the body, these symptoms may be added, depending where the cancer has spread to:

• Headaches, vision problems, muscle weakness or seizures.
• Pain in the ribs, hips or back.
• Problems with swallowing.

General symptoms of metastatic lung cancer include:

• Loss of appetite
• Weight loss
• General fatigue

As well as describing cancers in stages one to four, oncologists use a system known as the TNM system. The 'T' refers to the tumor and is graded from 1 to 4 according to its size and its spread. The 'N' refers to the lymph nodes, whether any are affected by tumors and which ones they are.

The 'M' describes whether the tumor has metastasized; so M0 means that no metastasis has occurred, M1 means that the tumor has spread to the other lung or to other organs or parts of the body. Stage four lung cancer is always a metastatic tumor.

The treatment of stage four lung cancers is limited, due to its spread outside the lung of its origin. Surgery is not an option at this stage because it would be impossible to remove all the tumors. Stage four lung cancers can be treated, as long as the patient is well enough to take the severity of the chemotherapy.

Radiation therapy is an option as a palliative treatment, to give relief from the symptoms. Patients with pain in the bone, breathing obstruction, bleeding from the lungs or headaches can be helped with radiation therapy.

The prognosis for patients with a stage four lung cancer is poor, with a five year survival rate of lower than 10%. There are several variables that affect the outcome of treatments for stage four cancers, which encompass several different types of lung cancer.

The variables include the type and location of the cancer; the sex and age of the patient as younger people and women tend to live longer; the general health of the patient when they were diagnosed, as good health is linked with longer life expectancy; how the patient deals with the treatments; complications, like blood clots, which may occur and any other health problem that the patient may have.

The statistics of the life expectancy of stage four lung cancer patients are often several years old and with newer treatments, the realistic statistics at the time of a patient's treatment may be very different to those being used for comparison. The current treatments may not be a cure but they do improve survival rates and help to relieve the symptoms.