Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsConsidering Your PrognosisSurvival vs. Quality of LifeReligion, Finances, StigmaMaking Your DecisionIf a Loved One Declines Treatment
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Considering Your Prognosis
Survival vs. Quality of Life
Religion, Finances, Stigma
Making Your Decision
If a Loved One Declines Treatment
Lung cancer survival without treatment is shorter than survival with treatment. People with untreated non-small cell lung cancer—the most common type—typically live between 5 and 12 months after diagnosis, depending on the stage of their disease.
There are many reasons why you may choose not to treat your lung cancer. Cancer treatment can significantly impact your quality of life in ways you may find unacceptable, and that can be a good reason to choose to remain untreated.
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How Long Does It Take to Die With Untreated Lung Cancer?
Your healthcare provider can provide you with survival statistics, but it is impossible to predict exactly how long you will live based on those numbers.
Thestage and gradeof your cancer can help your healthcare provider establish a likely outcome (known as theprognosis), but the likely outcome may not beyouroutcome.
How long can you live without treatment for lung cancer?If left untreated, people withnon-small cell lung cancer, the most common form of the disease, might live anywhere five to 12 months, depending on the stage.In contrast, people withsmall cell lung cancergenerally survive three to 15 months without treatment (based on the stage).
How long can you live without treatment for lung cancer?
If left untreated, people withnon-small cell lung cancer, the most common form of the disease, might live anywhere five to 12 months, depending on the stage.In contrast, people withsmall cell lung cancergenerally survive three to 15 months without treatment (based on the stage).
Factors That Impact Survival
Among the factors that can impact survival times in people withlung cancer:
The one factor that almost invariably affects survival time is whether you seektreatmentor not. Even among senior patients with moreadvanced lung cancer, some form of treatment has been shown to increase survival times significantly.
Why Remain Untreated?
For some people, survival is not the primary goal, particularly if they are older or are already in poor health. If you have advanced cancer, your ability to toleratechemotherapymay be poor. If this is you, it is fair and reasonable to ask how long you have to live if youdo notopt to seek treatment.
Given that around 80% of all lung cancer cases are diagnosed when the disease is advanced (stage 3orstage 4), this is a concern and decision point that many people share.
Survival Benefits vs. Quality of Life
But it is also important to understand that there are many myths about lung cancer that may be skewing your perspective. One is that people reach a certain age when they are “too old” for lung cancer treatment. In actuality,older people often do well with treatments, particularly newerimmunotherapy drugscalled checkpoint inhibitors that may be more tolerable than traditional chemotherapy drugs.
Similarly,targeted therapies, which directly target cancer cells and leave normal cells untouched, generally have milder effects than some chemotherapy drugs.
It is also important to acknowledge that chemotherapy regimens used today are nowhere near as problematic as those of the past. For example, they cause less treatment-induced nausea, vomiting, and fatigue.
How fast does lung cancer progress without treatment?The rate at which lung cancer grows varies from person to person. On average, however, it generally takes around 7 months for a NSCLC tumor to double in size.
How fast does lung cancer progress without treatment?
The rate at which lung cancer grows varies from person to person. On average, however, it generally takes around 7 months for a NSCLC tumor to double in size.
Other Reasons Some Forego Treatment
There are many reasons why people may decide not to pursue lung cancer treatment. Beyond your quality of life or fear of treatment side effects, other issues may influence this decision—whether you are immediately aware of them or not.
Religious Beliefs
Some people choose to pass on cancer treatment due to religious beliefs. These include people who are Christian Scientists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Amish, or Scientologists. For them, their faith and belief will often direct what is the “right” thing to do.
On the other hand, some people may turn to religion for curative purposes, believing that prayer or other practices can rid them of their cancer. There is little if any evidence of this ever working.
While faith is important in dealing with any disease (and can make a difference in how well youcope with the disease), it is important to keep an open mind about the benefits and risks of cancer treatment if your faith does not bar medical interventions.
If in doubt or crisis, speak with a spiritual advisor of your faith, such as pastor or rabbi, to work through any fears or struggles you are experiencing. Doing so can help you make a more informed decision.
Financial Concerns
People sometimes choose to forego treatment for financial reasons. They may not want to drain what limited savings they have and that their family depends on. Or, they may lack insurance or think that certain treatments are unattainable to them because they either make too little or too much money.
There are resources for those who are uninsured or underinsured, as well as financial assistance programs that aid in the cost of treatment, transport, home care, family services, and other common concerns.
Before avoiding treatment youthinkyou cannot afford, speak with asocial workerat your cancer treatment center who can help you navigate the services and programs available to you.
These may include:
Lung Cancer Stigma
Some people decide against treatment because of thestigma of lung cancer. For current or former smokers, “smoker’s guilt” can get the best of them and lead one to believe that they somehow “deserve” the disease because they made a conscious choice to light up.
Nobody deserves cancer, and lung cancer occurs insmokers and non-smokers alike. As with any potentially life-threatening disease, lung cancer is treated with care and compassion regardless of its possible causes.
If you have problems coping with your diagnosis, ask your healthcare provider for a referral to a psychiatrist or psychologist who can help.Support groupsare also available to put you in touch with others who understand what you are going through firsthand.
If you are thinking about foregoing cancer treatment, you need to ensure that you make an informed choice based on a full and complete understanding of your illness and possible outcomes. Moreover, the information must be provided in a language you understand without undue influence or coercion.
Understanding cancer can be difficult. Sometimes there is miscommunication. Medical terms may be hard to understand, and treatments can get easily confused and muddled.
If you are struggling to make a decision about whether or not to continue on without lung cancer treatment, there are four things you should do:
If a loved one decides to forego lung cancer treatment, it can be a difficult, heart-wrenching thing to hear. You may not be able to fully comprehend it at first. In such instances, let your loved one know that you hear them and love them, but that you need a day or two to process the news.
If you do decide you need more information, ask compassionately. Avoid judgmental questions starting with “why,” and give your loved one time to express themselves fully without interruption or displays of panic or disapproval.
In the end, there will come a time when you need to respect your loved one’s decision, however hard that may be. Acceptance will ultimately make you a better caregiver and prepare you emotionally for when your loved one is no longer with you.
Summary
Untreated lung cancer has a poorer prognosis than lung cancer that is treated, however, there are many reasons why someone may choose not to undergo treatment. If you are older or have other health conditions, treatment may be less effective and may also impact your quality of life.
People with untreated lung cancer live an average of 5 to 12 months depending on the stage of the cancer at diagnosis and their overall health. Talk to your healthcare provider about your prognosis and whether it makes sense for you to pursue treatment.
10 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Wao H, Mhaskar R, Kumar A, Miladinovic B, Djulbegovic B.Survival of patients with non-small cell lung cancer without treatment: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Syst Rev.2013;2:10. doi:10.1186/2046-4053-2-10Wallace AS, Arya M, Frazier SR, Westgate S, Wang Z, Doll D.Combined small-cell lung carcinoma: An institutional experience.Thorac Cancer.2014;5(1):57-62. doi:10.1111/1759-7714.12059Prigerson HG, Bao Y, Shah MA, et al.Chemotherapy use, performance status, and quality of life at the end of life.JAMA Oncol. 2015;1(6):778-84. doi:10.1001/jamaoncol.2015.2378Driessen EJM, Schulkes KJG, Dingemans AC, et al.Patterns of treatment and survival among older patients with stage III non-small cell lung cancer.Lung Cancer. 2018;116:55-61. doi:10.1016/j.lungcan.2017.12.013Chadha AS, Ganti AK, Sohi JS, Sahmoun AE, Mehdi SA.Survival in untreated early stage non-small cell lung cancer.Anticancer Res.2005;25(5):3517-20.David EA, Daly ME, Li CS, et al.Increasing rates of no treatment in advanced-stage non-small cell lung cancer patients: A propensity-matched analysis.J Thorac Oncol. 2017;12(3):437-445. doi:10.1016/j.jtho.2016.11.2221Blandin Knight S, Crosbie PA, Balata H, Chudziak J, Hussell T, Dive C.Progress and prospects of early detection in lung cancer.Open Biol. 2017;7(9):170070. doi:10.1098/rsob.170070Casaluce F, Sgambato A, Maione P, Spagnuolo A, Gridelli C.Lung cancer, elderly and immune checkpoint inhibitors.J Thorac Dis. 2018;10(Suppl 13):S1474-S1481. doi:10.21037/jtd.2018.05.90American Cancer Society.What’s new in non-small cell lung cancer research?Miura K, Hamanaka K, Koizumi T, Kawakami S, Kobayashi N, Ito KI.Solid component tumor doubling time is a prognostic factor in non-small cell lung cancer patients.J Cardiothorac Surg. 2019;14(1):57. doi:10.1186/s13019-019-0879-x
10 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Wao H, Mhaskar R, Kumar A, Miladinovic B, Djulbegovic B.Survival of patients with non-small cell lung cancer without treatment: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Syst Rev.2013;2:10. doi:10.1186/2046-4053-2-10Wallace AS, Arya M, Frazier SR, Westgate S, Wang Z, Doll D.Combined small-cell lung carcinoma: An institutional experience.Thorac Cancer.2014;5(1):57-62. doi:10.1111/1759-7714.12059Prigerson HG, Bao Y, Shah MA, et al.Chemotherapy use, performance status, and quality of life at the end of life.JAMA Oncol. 2015;1(6):778-84. doi:10.1001/jamaoncol.2015.2378Driessen EJM, Schulkes KJG, Dingemans AC, et al.Patterns of treatment and survival among older patients with stage III non-small cell lung cancer.Lung Cancer. 2018;116:55-61. doi:10.1016/j.lungcan.2017.12.013Chadha AS, Ganti AK, Sohi JS, Sahmoun AE, Mehdi SA.Survival in untreated early stage non-small cell lung cancer.Anticancer Res.2005;25(5):3517-20.David EA, Daly ME, Li CS, et al.Increasing rates of no treatment in advanced-stage non-small cell lung cancer patients: A propensity-matched analysis.J Thorac Oncol. 2017;12(3):437-445. doi:10.1016/j.jtho.2016.11.2221Blandin Knight S, Crosbie PA, Balata H, Chudziak J, Hussell T, Dive C.Progress and prospects of early detection in lung cancer.Open Biol. 2017;7(9):170070. doi:10.1098/rsob.170070Casaluce F, Sgambato A, Maione P, Spagnuolo A, Gridelli C.Lung cancer, elderly and immune checkpoint inhibitors.J Thorac Dis. 2018;10(Suppl 13):S1474-S1481. doi:10.21037/jtd.2018.05.90American Cancer Society.What’s new in non-small cell lung cancer research?Miura K, Hamanaka K, Koizumi T, Kawakami S, Kobayashi N, Ito KI.Solid component tumor doubling time is a prognostic factor in non-small cell lung cancer patients.J Cardiothorac Surg. 2019;14(1):57. doi:10.1186/s13019-019-0879-x
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Wao H, Mhaskar R, Kumar A, Miladinovic B, Djulbegovic B.Survival of patients with non-small cell lung cancer without treatment: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Syst Rev.2013;2:10. doi:10.1186/2046-4053-2-10Wallace AS, Arya M, Frazier SR, Westgate S, Wang Z, Doll D.Combined small-cell lung carcinoma: An institutional experience.Thorac Cancer.2014;5(1):57-62. doi:10.1111/1759-7714.12059Prigerson HG, Bao Y, Shah MA, et al.Chemotherapy use, performance status, and quality of life at the end of life.JAMA Oncol. 2015;1(6):778-84. doi:10.1001/jamaoncol.2015.2378Driessen EJM, Schulkes KJG, Dingemans AC, et al.Patterns of treatment and survival among older patients with stage III non-small cell lung cancer.Lung Cancer. 2018;116:55-61. doi:10.1016/j.lungcan.2017.12.013Chadha AS, Ganti AK, Sohi JS, Sahmoun AE, Mehdi SA.Survival in untreated early stage non-small cell lung cancer.Anticancer Res.2005;25(5):3517-20.David EA, Daly ME, Li CS, et al.Increasing rates of no treatment in advanced-stage non-small cell lung cancer patients: A propensity-matched analysis.J Thorac Oncol. 2017;12(3):437-445. doi:10.1016/j.jtho.2016.11.2221Blandin Knight S, Crosbie PA, Balata H, Chudziak J, Hussell T, Dive C.Progress and prospects of early detection in lung cancer.Open Biol. 2017;7(9):170070. doi:10.1098/rsob.170070Casaluce F, Sgambato A, Maione P, Spagnuolo A, Gridelli C.Lung cancer, elderly and immune checkpoint inhibitors.J Thorac Dis. 2018;10(Suppl 13):S1474-S1481. doi:10.21037/jtd.2018.05.90American Cancer Society.What’s new in non-small cell lung cancer research?Miura K, Hamanaka K, Koizumi T, Kawakami S, Kobayashi N, Ito KI.Solid component tumor doubling time is a prognostic factor in non-small cell lung cancer patients.J Cardiothorac Surg. 2019;14(1):57. doi:10.1186/s13019-019-0879-x
Wao H, Mhaskar R, Kumar A, Miladinovic B, Djulbegovic B.Survival of patients with non-small cell lung cancer without treatment: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Syst Rev.2013;2:10. doi:10.1186/2046-4053-2-10
Wallace AS, Arya M, Frazier SR, Westgate S, Wang Z, Doll D.Combined small-cell lung carcinoma: An institutional experience.Thorac Cancer.2014;5(1):57-62. doi:10.1111/1759-7714.12059
Prigerson HG, Bao Y, Shah MA, et al.Chemotherapy use, performance status, and quality of life at the end of life.JAMA Oncol. 2015;1(6):778-84. doi:10.1001/jamaoncol.2015.2378
Driessen EJM, Schulkes KJG, Dingemans AC, et al.Patterns of treatment and survival among older patients with stage III non-small cell lung cancer.Lung Cancer. 2018;116:55-61. doi:10.1016/j.lungcan.2017.12.013
Chadha AS, Ganti AK, Sohi JS, Sahmoun AE, Mehdi SA.Survival in untreated early stage non-small cell lung cancer.Anticancer Res.2005;25(5):3517-20.
David EA, Daly ME, Li CS, et al.Increasing rates of no treatment in advanced-stage non-small cell lung cancer patients: A propensity-matched analysis.J Thorac Oncol. 2017;12(3):437-445. doi:10.1016/j.jtho.2016.11.2221
Blandin Knight S, Crosbie PA, Balata H, Chudziak J, Hussell T, Dive C.Progress and prospects of early detection in lung cancer.Open Biol. 2017;7(9):170070. doi:10.1098/rsob.170070
Casaluce F, Sgambato A, Maione P, Spagnuolo A, Gridelli C.Lung cancer, elderly and immune checkpoint inhibitors.J Thorac Dis. 2018;10(Suppl 13):S1474-S1481. doi:10.21037/jtd.2018.05.90
American Cancer Society.What’s new in non-small cell lung cancer research?
Miura K, Hamanaka K, Koizumi T, Kawakami S, Kobayashi N, Ito KI.Solid component tumor doubling time is a prognostic factor in non-small cell lung cancer patients.J Cardiothorac Surg. 2019;14(1):57. doi:10.1186/s13019-019-0879-x
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