How terrible is the terminal stage of cancer? Is it painful?

Is terminal cancer terrible? Terrible! It is false to say that it is not terrible, and no one believes it. Who's not afraid? After all, most cancers are incurable in the late stage, which is also the core reason why everyone talks about cancer discoloration. If cancer can be found early, most of them have a chance to be cured, and cancer is not so terrible. It is precisely because most cancers are found in the advanced stage, and the chances of being cured in the advanced stage are slim, which is really terrible.

However, don't just say forget it, don't treat it, it's incurable anyway. This is a wrong idea! Even in the advanced stage of cancer, there are different situations, which cannot be generalized simply, depending on the situation.

Some cancers still have a chance of long-term survival or even cure, such as certain types of lymphoma, malignant germ cell tumors represented by choriocarcinoma ... The treatment of these cancers is mainly internal medicine anti-tumor drugs, among which chemotherapy is an important treatment, and now there are targeted drugs and immune drugs. If colorectal cancer has liver metastasis or lung metastasis, although it is also advanced, there is still a chance of long-term survival if this liver metastasis or lung metastasis can be surgically removed. The treatment is surgery plus drugs (chemotherapy, or targeted drugs, and radiotherapy if it is rectal cancer).

Although some cancers are incurable in the late stage, they can be controlled through comprehensive treatment and can live with tumors for a long time. What comprehensive treatment? Mainly chemotherapy, targeted drug therapy, endocrine therapy, immunotherapy, radiotherapy, interventional therapy and so on. These treatments depend on the condition. For example, some advanced breast cancer, some advanced lung adenocarcinoma.

Of course, many advanced cancers have no effective treatment and poor prognosis. This is the most terrible thing, and the doctor admits that he is "incompetent." But medicine has been developing. If the treatment effect is not good now, there may be a good treatment in the future.

Some people may ask, is terminal cancer very painful?

As long as many people talk about cancer, especially advanced cancer, they will imagine many horrible scenes in their minds. They think that if they have terminal cancer, they will definitely live in pain every day, and life is worse than death. This is actually a misunderstanding and is imagined by many people. Of course, I can't say that it's completely wrong. It can only be said that the so-called cancer terminal pain can only be said to be a local phenomenon. It can't be said that as long as it is in the late stage of cancer, it will definitely be painful and live in pain all day.

In fact, many patients with advanced cancer, you may not know that you have cancer, and it is entirely possible to live without pain. Some people just don't believe that they all have cancer, and it's terminal. How can there be no pain? Why is it impossible? When cancer does not invade key tissues and organs, it is normal to have no symptoms and no uncomfortable manifestations. Of course, when I say this, I don't mean that there is no pain in the terminal stage of cancer. Many patients with advanced cancer still have symptoms, whether they are serious or light. When all cancer is advanced and asymptomatic, it only means that at a certain stage, in the end, there will still be symptoms, just like everyone will definitely die. I just hope that you don't take it for granted that all patients with advanced cancer must live in pain.

When cancer reaches a certain stage, symptoms and pain will appear. How painful is it? It doesn't have to be like this. When I say pain, I mean uncomfortable symptoms, not pain. Pain is just one of the pains. The so-called pain actually includes other symptoms, such as cough, chest tightness, dyspnea, dysphagia, abdominal distension, fatigue, loss of appetite, constipation or diarrhea. It can be said that all kinds of symptoms may appear, but not all symptoms will appear, and not every patient has these symptoms. Some people think of pain. Pain is indeed a common symptom, but it is actually relatively easy to relieve, because there are analgesics, according to the treatment standard of cancer pain, most of the pain can be relieved or alleviated. Of course, some intractable pains are difficult to relieve. Hospice care, from nursing and psychological care, tries to make patients go less painful. Efforts are still needed in this respect, not only for doctors, but also for families and society.