Dr. Roach Challenges Leaving Lung Cancer Patient Untreated as DIC Kills Half Within 2 Weeks
Updated
Updated · Detroit News · Aug 4
Dr. Roach Challenges Leaving Lung Cancer Patient Untreated as DIC Kills Half Within 2 Weeks
1 articles · Updated · Detroit News · Aug 4
Summary
Dr. Roach said a stroke patient with lung cancer and disseminated intravascular coagulation should not be sent home as if no treatment exists, calling the account "puzzling" and saying the patient appears poorly treated.
DIC can trigger dangerous clotting that causes strokes and pulmonary emboli, then exhaust platelets and clotting factors, leaving patients at risk of severe bleeding, including at the lung tumor.
Half of patients with cancer-related DIC die within 2 weeks, he said, but available care includes treating the underlying cancer when possible and using therapies that slow the clotting cascade while replacing clotting factors and platelets.
Without details on how advanced the lung cancer is, Roach said he could not judge whether surgery, radiation or chemotherapy is appropriate, but stressed that "go home to die" should never be the only option.