[spot]

I've known a couple of people with it. Both were around that age, both came out of hospital. One lived another ten years and died of something different, the other died a year or two later.

The hospital will have a note somewhere on who the patient would like the medical staff to discuss treatment and prognosis with. Sometimes it's the patient, sometimes it's a nominated family member. There will be a note on how much they've asked to be informed of. If you think those details are wrong you ought to be able to have the instructions discussed and changed. Some patients or families simply don't want to be told, some do. If Raven's around, she knows more about it than I do - you might PM her for advice, she works in that sort of area.

If you want to know and you get permission to be told, I'd have thought the things you need to ask are the stage it's reached and the intended treatment. Whether to ask or not is a family decision and your father in law really ought to have a significant say in that.