Same with two of my uncles. I do have a... sort of brother-in-law who has been living with some variant of this for almost three years (inexplicably), but it’s been a miserable three years.
My son has been fighting a rare and aggressive throat cancer now for 10 years. It spread to a spot in his back. It all depends upon your personal frame of mind as to whether you want to try and live or just let it take you. He decided he wanted to see his kids grow up, so he fought it, and still continues to do so. He became a marathon runner, and holds to a strict anti-cancer diet. They told him he might have 2 years. That was 10 years ago. Right now, he appears to be in total remission. They can no longer find any sign of it in his back. Cancer research and treatment keeps getting better and better.