Q: My grandfather is suffering from cancer for the past 9 months. He is 79 years old. Cancer was at the second stage when we got to know about it. It has occurred in between the throat, because of this the food pipe has been locked by the disease and it is difficult for him to eat or drink. The doctor has done an operation on the stomach by giving a pipe inside the stomach through which he is taking food. He is taking only liquid items like milk, juice and rice kheer. His lungs, heart and liver are all normal. Last week he had a body scan and the report was normal expect cancer. According to the scan report the cancer growth is 7.5 cm at present. He also has heavy cough. Because of this he has lost weight. What are the chances to cure the disease? What are the remedies to avoid the growth of cancer in future? What should be our next step? He is not in a position to take radiation at present.

A:The established therapies for throat cancer are surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. In view of his poor general condition, neither of these is possible. There is emerging role of targeted, relatively non-toxic drug. One such drug that may show good results is Iressa or Geftinat 500 mg daily. You may try this drug.