Survival rates are often used by doctors
as a standard way of discussing a person's prognosis (outlook). Some patients
with breast cancer may want to know the survival statistics for people in
similar situations, while others may not find the numbers helpful, or may even
not want to know them. If you decide that you do not want to read them, skip to
the next section.
The 5-year observed survival rate refers
to the percentage of patients who live at least 5 years after being diagnosed
with cancer. Many of these patients live much longer than 5 years after
diagnosis.
A relative survival rate (like the
numbers below) compares the observed survival with what would be expected for
people without the cancer. This helps to correct for the deaths caused by
something besides cancer and is a more accurate way to describe the effect of
cancer on survival. (Relative survival rates are at least as high as observed
survival, and in most cases are higher.)
In order to get 5-year survival rates,
doctors have to look at people who were treated at least 5 years ago.
Improvements in treatment since then may result in a more favorable outlook for
people now being diagnosed with breast cancer.
Survival rates are often based on
previous outcomes of large numbers of people who had the disease, but they
cannot predict what will happen in any particular person's case. Many other
factors may affect a person's outlook, such as your age and health, the
presence of hormone receptors on the cancer cells, the treatment received, and
how well the cancer responds to treatment. Your doctor can tell you how the
numbers below may apply to you, as he or she is familiar with the aspects of
your particular situation.
The available statistics do not divide
survival rates by all of the substages, such as IA and IB. The rates for these
substages are likely to be close to the rate for the overall stage. For
example, the survival rate for stage IA is likely to be slightly higher than that
listed for stage I, while the survival rate for stage IB would be expected to
be slightly lower.
It is also important to realize that
these statistics are based on the stage of the cancer when it was first
diagnosed. These do not apply to cancers that later come back or spread, for
example.
The rates below come from the National
Cancer Institute’s SEER database. They are based on the previous version of
AJCC staging. In that version stage II also included patients that would now be
considered stage IB.
No comments:
Post a Comment