Suggest Treatment For Stage-4 Esophageal Cancer In An Elderly Person

Posted on Wed, 30 Dec 2015

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Wed, 30 Dec 2015 Answered on

Fri, 22 Jan 2016 Last reviewed on

Question : today 4th stage cancer is deducted in food pipe to my 73 yr old mother. Dr says its only 1 to 2 months old. is it curable and how? its persisting on 22cm and 26 cm from mouth. she is also having cancer cells in lungs.

Answered by Dr. Hardik Sanghvi (50 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
It has very poor prognosis and we can not treat it completely.

Detailed Answer:
Hi, dear
I have gone through your question. I can understand your concern.
She has esophageal cancer. It is spread to lung and already stage 4 cancer. So it is very difficult to treat completely.

Surgery will not help in stage 4 cancer. So treatment options are chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Despite of all treatment prognosis remains poor. Life expectancy is not good. So you should keep that thing in mind.

Treatment can increase life expectancy and quality of life but overall prognosis is poor. Moreover chemotherapy and radiotherapy has their own side effects. So risk benefit ratio should be considered.

Consult your doctor and plan accordingly whether she should take chemotherapy and radiotherapy or not.

Hope I have answered your question, if you have doubt then I will be happy to answer. Thanks for using health care magic. Wish you a very good health.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar