Suzan & Freek dominate the news with the terrible news about his health situation: Freek Rikkerink (32) is incurably ill. What is his prognosis? “It varies a lot.”
It is an outright drama: Suzan & Freek were immediately stopped as a musical duo, because Freek Rikkering was struck at his young age by metastatic lung cancer. They were in the middle of life and had just started preparing a prestigious job: The Voice of Holland. It caused a lot of sorrow on TV last night.
Fifteen months
Suzan & Freek immediately deposited all their work. They were in the Ziggo Dome three times last weekend and would be there three more times next weekend, but that has been canceled. The two want to spend the time that they still have to spend. They expect their first child later this year. What exactly is his prognosis?
It is unclear what Freeks perspective is exactly. The Belgian pulmonologist and cancer specialist Annelies Janssens outlines in it Ad: “That remains difficult to say, because every patient is different. In Belgium, the median survival is (where half dies earlier and half later, ed.) With metastatic lung cancer around fifteen months.”
Smoke history
This is especially true for people with a smoke history, says Annelies. “In patients who have never smoked, we usually see slightly better prospects: two to three years is than the average. The treatment focuses primarily on keeping the metastases under control and combating symptoms.”
She continues: “Sometimes we achieve impressive results, though. For example, I treat a young woman who has never smoked and has metastatic lung cancer. She still gets targeted medication in pill form and still sets good five years after the diagnosis. But I also know a similar case where the patient died after one year.”
1 percent
Freek belongs to an extremely small minority anyway, says oncologist Jacques de Grève De Telegraaf. “This is indeed very exceptional. Of all lung cancer patients, barely 1 percent of his age or younger. Especially with non-smokers we usually see lung cancer only in their forties or fifties.”
Every year about 12,500 people in the Netherlands are told that they have the disease, but only about a hundred people are of Freeks age. “Some patients can walk around without illness for years after treatment. The prognosis is therefore very varied,” said Jacques.
Pure breakdown
In which Stadium Freek is currently located, it was not announced. Suzan and he will of course be defeated. “Lung cancer is relatively rare and often pure bad luck at this age,” lung doctor Robin Cornelissen told RTL News. “Every day a trillion cells share in our body. And sometimes that can go wrong.”
About the prognosis, he says that personal choices also play a role: “A young person can often appreciate very much every week or month. You therefore see that part of this group opts for heavier treatments to get that time. The considerations are different from someone who is confronted with lung cancer at a later age.”