My dad has just been diagnosed with Squamous Cell Carcinoma which Drs feel has come from the lungs, digestive system but traveled to his spine where he had biopsies taken from.
What severity is this?Stage 4?
What is the prognosis? Is he one of the poor stats for whom the 5-year survival for distant metastatic melanoma is 17.9%??
And am I right in thinking it is hard to treat if spread??
Hi and welcome to the online community
I realise how worried you must be right now with your dad just having been diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma on his spine. Unfortunately, only your dad's consultant will be able to tell him what stage this is and what his prognosis is.
The type of squamous cell carcinoma that people in the skin cancer group have is not the same as that which is found in lung cancer, where your dad's doctors think that his cancer has originated from. If you click on this link it will take you to information about lung cancer where you will see that squamous cell carcinoma is one of three main types of non-small cell lung cancer.
I can see that you have joined and posted in lots of different groups but if I understand correctly what you've written, your dad has lung cancer which has spread to his bones (secondary bone cancer). Therefore, I think you might be best posting in these two groups. To join just click on the links I've created.
However, it might be better to sit down with your dad's team to ask questions, with the permission of your dad of course.
I have to admit that I'm confused about why you're asking about the stats for metastatic melanoma as that is a completely different cancer. Has you dad also been diagnosed with melanoma?
When you have a minute it would be really useful if could pop something about your dad's journey so far into your profile as it really helps others when answering or looking for someone with a similar diagnosis. It also means that you don't have to keep repeating yourself. To do this click on your username and then select 'Edit Profile'. You can amend it at any time and if you're not sure what to write you can take a look at mine by clicking on my username.
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"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
I would imagine that they are holding a multidisiplinary team (MDT) meeting to decide on the best way forward for your dad. Once you and your dad know what the treatment plan is you'll hopefully feel more in control.
Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is found in lots of areas of the body but what I was trying to explain was that it won't be the same type as that which is found in the skin cancer group in which you'd posted. SCC of the skin is the second most common type of skin cancer and very rarely spreads.
You asked in your original post "Is he one of the poor stats for whom the 5-year survival for distant metastatic melanoma is 17.9%??" and I wondered why you were also asking about melanoma.
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"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
Hi
I'm just getting in touch with you to see how your dad is doing. Have they had the MDT yet? Hopefully, you'll know a bit more about his cancer now and the treatment they're going to give him.
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"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
