Q: My sister, aged 40 years, is suffering from breast cancer and has undergone treatment for it. The doctors said that she is normal. But for the last few days she is not well. After consulting the doctors they said that she may live for 6 months or so. But how is this possible because they earlier said that the cancer was already cured? Is there any possibility of saving her life?

A:You have not sent any details of latest investigations as to whether cancer is spread and if yes to what parts of the body. In a patient with spread of breast cancer, the average survival varies from 2-7 years. There are many hormonal, chemotherapy and biologic drugs that can control the growth of cancer and extend the life of a patient. Cure is possible but uncommon. We use these drugs in a sequential manner i.e., one after the other. One needs to know the details before specific advice can be given.