hi, my father is 64 yrs old . he has just been diagnosed with adenocarcinoma of the lung. he was treated with cisplatin and pemetrexed the first time. the cancer increased from 2cm to 9cm in 15 days. then he gave him oxaliplatin with pemetrexed. my father coughs like hell. he cant sleep or eat. he is totally on liquid diet. the doctors are not sure if the chemo will work because his opacities in the lungs are increasing .moreover he is also having difficulty breathing. hes on oxygen through out. my query is how can we see whether the chemo is working or not. plus how much time does he have if it doesnt work.
HelloWelcome to Chat Doctor The survival in cancer is estimated according to the stage of disease. Lung cancer is staged from stage 1 (limited disease) to stage 4 (metastatic disease). Equally important is general condition of patient like whether he is losing weight or not, ability to do normal activity, diet and oxygen dependence. These things not only tell about status of patient but also determine if patient can tolerate aggressive treatment like chemotherapy or not. Regarding response with chemotherapy, it can be assessed in 2 ways. One in improvement in symptoms like cough, breathlessness etc. and another is imaging like CT scan of chest. Response is usually assessed after 2-3 cycles of chemotherapy. Although you have not mentioned stage, it seems he has pretty advance stage disease and survival is measured in months in stage 4 disease. Regards