Cancer is one of the scariest diseases of our time. Often, when a person is diagnosed with any type of cancer, their first thought is that they are going to die. Well, the truth is that we are all going to die at some point, and you may very well die of cancer – but then again, you could very well beat the cancer and die from something else much later in life. You need to understand cancer survival rates.
Understanding Cancer Survival Rates
There are two types of cancer survival rates Disease Free Survival Rate and Progression Free Survival Rate. The Disease Free rate is the number of people who have a specific type of cancer, and were at one point free of that cancer after diagnosis and treatment. The Progression Free rate is the number of people who are not cancer free, but whose cancer is not progressing. When your doctor tells you the survival rate, make sure that you understand which rate he is speaking of.
The next thing that you need to know is how to decipher the numbers. Survival rates are given in percentages. For example, if your doctor tells you that the survival rate is 74%, this means that out of 100 people, 74% survived, and 26% did not. All survival rates are given for a five year period of time. Using the same example, this means that 74% of the people with that type of cancer survived for at least five years from the time of their diagnosis.
Why Are Cancer Survival Rates Important to You?
Cancer survival rates matter a great deal. You may not think that you want to know what your ‘chances of survival’ are – and you don’t really have to know this information. The information is vital, however, in terms of treatment.
You see, your doctor can help you to decide the best course of treatment based on survival rates, because the rates also are given for specific types of cancers that are treated in very specific ways. Obviously, your doctor will suggest the type of treatment with the highest survival rate.
Put the Numbers in Perspective
Unfortunately, these survival rates are not as conclusive as they need to be, and the survival rate for your type of cancer may not even appropriately be applied to you. These rates do not take other health concerns or conditions into account, they do not account for age, or a number of other things that could either increase or decrease your survival rate. Before you depend too much on the numbers, ask your doctor how closely those numbers apply to your cancer.
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