A 41-year-old lung cancer patient online consultation, he suffered from lung cancer 5 years ago, after radical surgery, postoperative staging is relatively early, IB stage, has now passed 5 years of survival, review did not find any signs of recurrence and metastasis, does it mean that there is no need to worry about it? Is it possible to live a completely normal life, including drinking alcohol properly?
What is a 5-year survival?
Many people have a misunderstanding of the 5-year survival period, thinking that this means that they can only live for 5 years, in fact, the five-year survival rate is a statistical concept, which refers to how many percent of patients are still alive after the cancer group is diagnosed for five years. For example, stage IA lung cancer has a five-year survival rate of nearly 90%, that is to say, 90% of patients with this stage of lung cancer can survive for more than five years after surgery. The five-year survival rate is commonly used clinically to evaluate the therapeutic effect of cancer.
The peak time of recurrence and metastasis of most malignant tumors is within 2 years, and the probability of recurrence gradually decreases after 2 years, and the probability of recurrence after 5 years is lower, and once the tumor is treated for five years without recurrence and metastasis, it can be considered that clinical cure has been achieved. In fact, the vast majority of patients who achieve clinical cure are those who have undergone radical surgery or radical chemoradiotherapy, and very few patients have survived to 5 years in the late stage and reached a complete tumor-free state.
Lung cancer patients have survived 5 years, what should they do next?
This should be divided into different lung cancer groups.
If you have undergone radical surgery in the past, survived 5 years of survival, and are completely tumor-free, it means that you have achieved clinical cure. But it does not mean that you can completely release yourself, regular review is essential, do a comprehensive examination once a year, including blood routine, biochemistry, tumor markers and chest and abdomen CT, gastrointestinal endoscopy is best 2-3 years to check once.
Its purpose is threefold: 1. Although the probability of relapse and metastasis after 5 years is low, 5-10% of patients still have recurrence and metastasis after 5 years. The purpose of the review is to detect possible recurrence early. 2. People with a history of malignant tumors in the past have a higher probability of cancer than healthy people, so regular physical examinations should be carried out to prevent second primary cancer. 3. Due to repeated anti-tumor treatment such as radiotherapy and chemotherapy, a very small number of patients may have blood diseases, such as idiopathic thrombocytopenia, myelodysplastic syndrome, leukemia, etc., so regular blood examination is also necessary.
As for bad habits such as smoking, drinking and socializing, staying up late to play cards, and overworking, patients with lung cancer surgery still need to be eliminated even if they have passed the five-year dangerous period.
For patients with advanced lung cancer, if the treatment effect is better and has reached a 5-year survival period, it is more necessary to follow up and review regularly, and in a stable state with tumors, 3 months of re-examination is appropriate, and the treatment effect is regularly evaluated. In fact, with the popularity of targeted therapy and immunotherapy, it is more common for advanced lung cancer to survive for more than 5 years. In addition to maintenance treatment and follow-up review, it is more important to balance nutrition, reasonable work and rest, exercise according to ability, and improve autoimmune function.
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