My dad has 10 cm grapefruit sized mediastinal small cell lung cancer tumor....diagnosed in Apr.   went thru chemo followed by chest radiation followed by PCI radiation ....he had minimal results to aggressive treatment .....less than 9% change in size.....is just now getting over pneumonia.....very weak....sleeps sits eats small meals or Ensure ...no energy to do anything.......just stopped vomiting 5 days ago....lost 45 lbs. since diagnosis....we get CT scan results this week to see if it has metastasized anywhere .... 77 yrs. old, smoked age 14 to age 60 ....how long do you think he has ?  Would you get hospice involved yet?
Hi and thanks for the query, I think it's important to note that a state of cancer is a state of immune depression, mainly die to the therapy, generally steroids and radiotherapy. Specific preventive measures are therefore required, especially in the elderly. It might have great importance for him to get the vaccine against Streptococcus pneumonia and Hemophilia influenza, to decrease the frequency of lung infections, generally caused by these germs. A chest X-ray and complete blood count are needed to ascertain and exclude a possibility of a lung infection. His oncologist must include preventive care, either through vaccines or preventive antibiotics into his management plan. Thanks and kind regards