Cancer and Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

[Sewciopath]

Does anyone have any experience or knowledge about chemotherapy for cancer patients who have Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. I know chemo can cause further lung damage. Can anyone give me a positive story about this please?

Sorry I can't help. Just bumping.

Do you want to expand a bit more? One of the challenges of IPF will be chest infections, so giving chemo may increase risk of complications. Some chemos drugs may also have specific lung reactions, so talk to oncologist about it. There are lots of different chemo drugs out there, so hopefully an optimal mix can be found. Good luck

Speak to your oncologist because there are so many different medicines offered as chemotherapy. Also not all cancer is treated with chemotherapy and there can often be other options depending on the specific cancer and the risks posed by the treatment options.

@Sewciopath can you give further details...is the person having treatment for concomitant lung cancer or cancer elsewhere? Any type of chemo is a balance between potential benefits v. potential harms so if your consultant is advising a particular course then I would hope they explain all aspects of their treatment plan.