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| Detailed Guide: Advanced Cancer |
What Is Advanced Cancer? |
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Advanced cancer is cancer that has grown beyond the organ where it first started. Often it has spread widely throughout the body (called metastatic cancer). Advanced cancer is not always metastatic cancer (see the section
"How Is Metastatic Cancer Different from Advanced Cancer?").
But sometimes metastatic cancer is considered advanced if it is affecting a vital organ and can’t be removed.
The term advanced cancer usually means that the cancer can't be cured. But even if there is no cure, treatment can sometimes shrink the cancer, help relieve symptoms, and help you live longer. Some people can live many years with advanced cancer.
Every person’s cancer is unique. Your cancer may respond differently to treatments and grow at a different rate than the same cancer in someone else. For some people, the cancer may already be advanced when they first learn they have the disease. Other people develop advanced cancer after years of treatment. In general, advanced cancer usually occurs after you have had cancer for some time and treatment is no longer effective in stopping the growth of the cancer. But the control of symptoms often related to advanced cancer, like pain and depression, almost always continue to respond to treatment. Last Revised: 12/10/2006
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