Expert: Claes-Gustaf Nordquist, M.D. - 6/13/2008

Question
Two weeks ago my grandma stated feeling dizzy her GP dignosed her with vertigo. a few days later she lost feeling in her right arm and right leg she was rushed to hospital with a mild stroke they did a brain scan and found two tumours on her brain then after another scan found a shadow on her lung. at first the doctors said there was nothing they could do. then another doctor said she was to young and wants to start radiotherpy next week, the first doctor did say it was secondary cancer, my gran is 61 years old and thinks she is going to be fine she still has no feeling in her right leg a bit of feeling has come back to her arm she has had one seziure on the day she was due to come out of hospital. how long do you think she has got? she thinks she going to live for years yet, she talking about going back to work and driving as soon as she has finished the radiotherpy. what will this radiotherpy do for her will it make her live longer? or just make her feel better. this has come as a massive shock to all of us. no body seems to be giving us answers. one doctors telling her to sort her affairs out the next saying he is going to get her back to work. please could you give an idea of what is most likley to happen. thankyou

Answer
I'm sorry to read about her - and your - problems! If indeed this is a lung cancer that has spread to her brain she has unfortunately at most one year to live even with radiation therapy but it may be shorter. Radiation therapy will prolong her survival time and decrease her symptoms and problems but even so her remaining survival time will not be long. Since her tumors have given her at least one epileptic fit she will NOT be allowed to drive a car anymore even with radiation therapy, or at least I strongly doubt that she will. I also strongly doubt that she will be able to go back to work, except maybe for a short and limited time. What does she do? Knowledge of that will improve my ability to answer that. It is rather common that lung cancers spread to the brain. Has she smoked? 90% of all lung cancers are due to smoking. It is not easy even for experienced drs. to give this kind of answer, so you have to understand her drs. It is easier for me since I do it in writing. Later on when the effect of the radiation therapy disappears she may develop more stroke like symptoms and more epileptic fits. She will become more and more confused. She will sleep more and more, drift into a coma and then pass away. There will be very little pain - if indeed any except maybe some head ache. I'm sorry I have nothing better to tell you!