I know a 23 year old that says he has throat cancer.  Says he has since he was around 19 and was told to go to hospice several times and the last time he was told that he probably would not make his 23rd birthday.  Not sure if he has any treatments since then unless they were trials. He  is now 24.  Is this possible?
Hi, Thanks for writing in. Throat cancer is to be confirmed after doing detailed clinical assessment and investigations. There are cases where the findings can mimic cancer and are actually a chronic disease and this needs to be confirmed. There are also cancers which can be slow growing and do not kill the patient. It can cause discomfort and morbidity, but the patient will survive for years. Also, there can be those in whom aggressive treatment has been provided by surgery, chemotherapy and radiation in various combinations and this has been able to arrest the cancer progression and stabilize the disease. Since the person has survived beyond the clinical expectation of his doctor, it will help to make a detailed assessment and control the disease as much possible.