Tannishtha Chatterjee Diagnosed With Stage 4 Oligometastatic Cancer: Symptoms, Causes, Risk Factors And Treatment

Bollywood actress and director Tannishtha Chatterjee has revealed that she is battling stage 4 oligometastatic cancer. Know what this cancer means, its symptoms, causes, risk factors and available treatment options.

Tannishtha Chatterjee, a Bollywood actress-director, recently revealed that she has been diagnosed with stage 4 oligometastatic cancer. Taking to her Instagram handle, she shared a picture of herself with a shaved head and penned a long note of her 'incredibly difficult' journey after losing her father to cancer.

It is a type of cancer that is situated between early-stage-localised cancer and diffuse metastases, that is, it has not spread beyond one original organ, but to just a few places. Let us understand its early symptoms, causes and risk factors, and the treatment options.

Oligometastatic Cancer: Early Signs And Symptoms

Early symptoms of oligometastasis cancer can be rather delicate, and therefore, diagnosis can be delayed. The main red flags that should be observed are:

1. Constant unknown fatigue and weakness, although more than being tired.
2. Inadvertent weight loss or loss of appetite whose cause cannot be determined.
3. Constant pain or pain that just will not fade in an area of bone or an organ.
4. Lymph nodes or body parts that have not been affected before developing swelling or lumps.
5. Transient shortness of breath, cough, or unusual symptoms in the chest or lungs (in case of metastasis involving the lung or chest).

Since oligometastatic disease presents itself at a stage in which the disease has not spread far and wide, these signs might not appear so dramatic in the first place compared to the signs experienced in more extensively metastatic cancer.

Oligometastatic Cancer: Causes and Risk Factors

Although a specific cause cannot explain any single case, it has several predictors that increase the likelihood of developing metastatic disease:

1. A cancer or a family history of cancer: When an individual has had cancer previously or there is a high family history risk augments. The case of Chatterjee shows that she has lost her father to cancer.
2. The nature and intensity of the initial tumour: Some cancers tend to metastasise.
3. Late management of the initial cancer: In case the original cancer is not treated or even detected over a significant period, the likelihood of metastasis is even higher.
4. Lifestyle reasons: Smoking, alcohol abuse, obesity, improper dieting, exercise deficiency and environmental exposures may predispose to cancer in general and therefore risk of spread.
5. Weakened immune system: The body of some people may be weakened in immunosensing and combating tumour cells, which spread.

Oligometastatic Cancer: Treatment Options

Some of the important treatment options are:

1. Systemic therapy: This involves chemotherapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapy or hormone therapy based on the particular kind of cancer. These are whole-body working treatments.
2. Local therapies to metastatic lesions: In cases of limited dissemination, oncologists can carry out surgical operations or radiotherapy in order to eliminate or kill the metastatic lesions. This emphasis on a reduced number of sites is a more useful opportunity to control.
3. Primary tumour control: In case the initial tumour is still intact at its remains or has a weak spot, it could be treated (surgery or radiotherapy) in order to stop further proliferation.
4. Multidisciplinary care: The treatment is complex and requires the involvement of a team of oncologists, radiologists, surgeons and professionals of the supportive-care.
5. Follow-up and monitoring: Scans and check-ups will be required regularly because of the risk of further spreading.

Take proper care and consult an oncologist immediately when required.