Understanding Cancer Survival Rates

When a patient is diagnosed with cancer, the firstoptions for treatment and lifestyle choices.
thing he would want to know is how far hisHowever, cancer survival rates don't specify
disease has progressed and how much time hewhether cancer survivors of 5 or 10 years are
has left. A prognosis can help a patient understandstill undergoing treatment or are cancer free. To
these things. Prognosis for cancer patients takesunderstand these dimensions there are the
the form of certain statistical figures based ondisease free survival rates and the progression
averages of a large number of cancer patients.free survival rates.
The most widely used averages are called theThe disease free survival rate is a statistical data
cancer survival rates. Doctors speak in terms ofof cancer patients who have achieved remission
5 year and 10 year survival rates. They indicateafter a certain period of treatment. The
the proportion of cancer patients in researchprogression free survival rate gives statistical data
studies who are still alive after 5 or 10 years ofof the number of people who still have cancer,
treatment. They don't mean that a patient will livebut whose disease isn't progressing. These are
for so many years only, but are to be used topatients who have had partial success with
understand and know what might happen to atreatment.
patient after 5 years or so.These three survival rates indicate a patient's
Cancer survival rate can be overall rates thatchances of achieving remission if a treatment plan
include people of all ages and at all stages ofis followed, based on how an average number of
cancer. Or they can be relative rates that arepatients have responded in similar situations.
more specific to certain stages of cancer. OverallHowever, they can at best give an idea of what
and relative cancer survival rates help patients toa patient can expect. They cannot be used to
know all that they can about their disease, basedpredict what will happen to a patient as no two
on what a majority of patients with similarpatients respond the same way and no two
disease have gone through. This helps reducecancers, even of the same type are similar.
anxiety and aids in analyzing and decide upon