Ogogo: Can someone survive stage four cancer? Here are things to know

Veteran actor Taiwo Hassan, popularly known as Ogogo, was confirmed to be battling stage-four cancer on Monday.

His two daughters, Lima and Kira Taiwo, made separate emotional appeals on Instagram, urging Nigerians, well-wishers and medical professionals with experience in cancer treatment to help save their father.

In a video posted on her Instagram page, Lima said the actor’s condition had deteriorated and that hospitals had refused to treat him.

Taiwo, who struggled to hold back tears throughout the video, appealed to Nigerians and well-wishers to help her family find a hospital or medical personnel willing to treat her father, insisting that the family was not soliciting funds.

What is stage four cancer?

According to Binaytara, a cancer news platform, stage four cancer is serious, but it is not the harbinger of death it once was.

While any cancer diagnosis is devastating, this term “stage 4” seems to have its own terrible weight, like a stone, which is carried around by patients and their families. But “stage 4” and “terminal” are not the same.

Stage four cancer is indeed the most severe form of disease, but this does not give credit to the incredible advancements made in cancer medicine nearly every day.

Targeted and immuno-therapies alongside precise radiotherapy and advanced surgical techniques have prolonged survival for all patients with cancer, including those with stage four disease.

What does it mean to be diagnosed with stage four cancer?

Cancer is a disease in which abnormal cells grow uncontrollably; the more a cancer grows, the more harmful it becomes. Simply put, the cancer staging system can be thought of as describing how much a person’s cancer has grown. Cancer is staged 1 through 4 based on the tumor’s size, growth into adjacent tissues, and spread to other organs.

The label of “stage 4” describes cancer that has travelled beyond the organ in which it originated to grow in other, distant parts of the body. Cancers growing in these other parts of the body are known as “metastases” (plural) and are why stage 4 cancer is commonly referred to as “metastatic cancer”. In this way, stage 4 disease describes the behaviour of a person’s cancer rather than a specific kind of cancer itself.

The bones, liver, and lungs are especially common places for cancer to spread. Cancer also frequently spreads to lymph nodes, collections of immune cells scattered throughout the body. Because of this spread, stage 4 cancer requires more aggressive treatment than cancer at lower stages.

How to treat stage four cancer

1. Understand what stage 4 means

• Stage 4 cancer has spread (metastasised) to other parts of the body.
• Because microscopic cancer cells may remain even after visible tumours are removed, completely eliminating the cancer can be difficult.

1. Treatment usually focuses on controlling the cancer

• Stage 4 cancer is often treatable, even when it cannot be completely cured.
• The main goals are to:
• Slow or control the cancer.
• Reduce the amount of cancer in the body.
• Help the person live longer.
• Maintain the best possible quality of life.

1. Treatment depends on where the cancer started

• Metastatic cancer is named according to its original site.
• For example, breast cancer that spreads to the lungs is still treated as breast cancer, not lung cancer.
• The original cancer type determines which treatments are most appropriate.

1. Systemic treatments are important

• Because cancer may be present throughout the body, treatments that travel through the bloodstream are often used.
• These can include:
• Chemotherapy
• Immunotherapy
• Targeted/precision medicines
• Other systemic treatments depending on the cancer type.

1. Treatment intensity depends on the person’s condition

• Doctors may initially use stronger treatments when appropriate to achieve better disease control.
• Older, frail, or already very sick patients may not tolerate aggressive treatment safely.
• In those situations, doctors may choose gentler treatments with fewer side effects, including medicines that can be taken as pills at home.

1. Doctors must balance benefits and side effects

• More aggressive treatment can sometimes control the cancer better but can also cause significant toxicity.
• Therefore, the treatment plan aims to find the best balance between:
• How effective the treatment is
• How severe its side effects are
• The person’s overall health and quality of life

1. Treatment usually involves a team

• Stage 4 cancer is commonly managed by several specialists, such as:
• Medical oncologists
• Radiation oncologists
• Surgical oncologists
• Other important members can include nurses, social workers, counsellors, nurse navigators, and symptom-management specialists.

1. Not all stage 4 cancers have the same outlook

• Some cancers spread extensively, while others spread to only a small number of locations.
• When cancer has spread to only a few sites—often one or two organs—it may be called oligometastatic cancer.

1. Oligometastatic cancer may sometimes be treated more aggressively

• In selected patients, doctors may use surgery or radiation to target and remove/destroy the largest or most dangerous cancer deposits.
• This can potentially prolong survival.

1. The key takeaway

• Stage 4 does not automatically mean there are no treatment options.