Plural effusion lung cancer

[Army]

My husband was diagnosed with stage 4 plural effusion lung cancer in April 2021.  He is being treated with immunotherapy Keytruda and now his scans is showing that the tumor is growing and spreading.  His Oncologist is reluctant to treat with chemo because he has mild dementia.  He has just started seeing some blood clots after coughing.  I need to say before the immunotherapy his lungs were tapped 2 different occasions, they removed 2 pints each time.  We now need to decide if we should try chemo because the Keytruda is no longer working.  What opinion do you have?

[LouT]

Army,

Welcome to our forums and I'm sorry that you need to be here.  Others will give you their experience with immunotherapy and chemo (I only had surgical treatment.  But, as a husband of a dementia patient I can tell you that it is a good thing your oncologist is taking that into account.  Treating anything medical with my wife was a terrible and tough experience.  

Please keep us updated and I look forward to my fellow forum members responses to your question.

Lou

[Army]

Thank you, went to family doctor and he thought a reduced dose might be ok.  I just put a call into our Oncologist, he is off on Fridays so I probably will not have his answer till Monday.

[Tom Galli]

Army,

What opinion might I have on a treatment when Keytruda doesn't work? First, understand my opinion is only suggestive. I'm not a physician so I am not offering an informed opinion. There might be 4 alternatives: conventional chemo alone, combination chemo (conventional chemo with immunotherapy), chemo-radiation (conventional chemo with fractional general radiation), and perhaps radiation alone. This resource explains these alternatives.

Stay the course.

Tom