A study by Drs. Peter A.S. Johnstone and Marilyn S. Norton, and Robert H. Riffenburgh, PhD., of 250 untreated breast cancer patients found that the median survival time was 2.7 years. They also studied the data on 1,022 untreated patients in other studies, and found a median survival time of 2.3 years. Regressions are rare
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What is the life expectancy of someone with breast cancer?
Sep 30, 2017 · A study by Drs. Peter A.S. Johnstone and Marilyn S. Norton, and Robert H. Riffenburgh, PhD., of 250 untreated breast cancer patients found that the median survival time was 2.7 years. They also...
What is the survivor rate of breast cancer?
Oct 19, 2021 · A relative survival rate compares women with the same type and stage of breast cancer to women in the overall population.For example, if the 5-year relative survival rate for a specific stage of breast cancer is 90%, it means that women who have that cancer are, on average, about 90% as likely as women who dont have that cancer to live for at least 5 years …
What is the recovery rate for breast cancer?
Sep 23, 2021 · In a complete remission, all signs and symptoms of cancer have disappeared. If you remain in complete remission for 5 years or more, some doctors may say that you are cured. Still, some cancer cells can remain in your body for many years after treatment. These cells may cause the cancer to come back one day.
What is the prognosis for Stage 4 breast cancer?
Data from nine published papers underwent actuarial analysis. Median survival time of the 250 patients followed to death was 2.7 years. Actuarial 5- and 10-year survival rates for these patients with untreated breast cancer was 18.4% and 3.6%, respectively. For the amalgamated 1,022 patients, median survival time was 2.3 years.
What Should I Ask My Healthcare Provider About Metastatic Breast Cancer
If youve been diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer, ask your provider:
What Tumor Factors Threaten My Life More
There are important tumor biology factors not well reflected in survival statistics by breast cancer stage. Below we list a few important factors that carry a higher risk to life beyond just the stage of cancer. You must ask your surgeon or medical oncologist to explain your receptor status and give you a copy of your biopsy pathology report.
Probability Of Cancer Progression
How long the remission period can last is one of the most frequently asked questions by patients with stage 4 breast cancer. The answer to this question depends on a number of factors that come in.
What Are Cancer Survival Statistics
A key part of making a prognosis is looking at survival rates. These are numbers researchers collect over many years in people with the same type of cancer. These numbers are based on large groups of people. For breast cancer, there are two main measurements:
Treatment Of Stage Iii Breast Cancers
Sometimes large breast cancers invade into muscles or attach to major arteries, veins or nerve trunks, which makes them impossible to surgically remove completely.
Can Metastatic Breast Cancer Go Into Remission
Metastatic breast cancer may never go away completely. But treatment can control its spread. Cancer may even go into remission at some points. This means you have fewer signs and symptoms of cancer.
What Does The Pain Feel Like When You Have Breast Cancer
Breast cancer can cause changes in skin cells that lead to feelings of pain, tenderness, and discomfort in the breast. Although breast cancer is often painless, it is important not to ignore any signs or symptoms that could be due to breast cancer. Some people may describe the pain as a burning sensation.
Where Does Breast Cancer Spread To
How long can I expect to live? What is my prognosis with pancreatic cancer? (Douglas Evans, MD)
Understanding What Happens Immediately After Death
When death occurs, the person’s muscles will relax, breathing will stop, the heart will stop beating, and there will be no pulse.
How Is Breast Cancer Recurrence Managed Or Treated
Your treatment depends on the type of cancer recurrence, as well as past treatments. If cancer develops in a reconstructed breast, your surgeon may want to remove the breast implant or skin flap.
Stage 2 Breast Cancer
Stage 2 breast cancer cells or tumors are larger than Stage 1 cancers, and may have spread to nearby lymph nodes. There are two types of Stage 2 breast cancer:
Understanding The Difference Between Cure And Remission
Cure means that there are no traces of your cancer after treatment and the cancer will never come back.
What Are The Symptoms Of Inflammatory Breast Cancer
Symptoms of inflammatory breast cancer include swelling and redness that affect a third or more of the breast. The skin of the breast may also appear pink, reddish purple, or bruised. In addition, the skin may have ridges or appear pitted, like the skin of an orange . These symptoms are caused by the buildup of fluid in the skin of the breast.
How Is Breast Cancer Stage Determined
The breast cancer staging process helps doctors determine how much cancer there is and where its located. The higher the breast cancer stage number, the more advanced the disease.
How long can a person live with breast cancer?
Depends.: There are some patients with breast cancer (such as dcis) can lived for many, many years with the cancer doing nothing. Some people will die very quic... Read More
How long does it take for cancer to take over your organs?
Variable: This is highly dependent on the cancer type and stage of presentation. Some aggressive forms of cancer may take over vital organs within months; oth... Read More
How long does it take to get answers from a doctor about breast cancer?
Ask U.S. doctors your own question and get educational, text answers — it's anonymous and free! Doctors typically provide answers within 24 hours. Educational text answers on HealthTap are not intended for individual diagnosis, treatment or prescription.
Why is triple negative breast cancer the most aggressive?
Probably not long.: Triple negative breast cancer is the most aggressive breast cancer, because it grows and spreads fast and there are fewer options for treatment. If n ... Read More
Do women die from breast cancer?
It depends.: The reality is that more than half of all women diagnosed with breast cancer will not die from breast cancer. While it is impossible to predict the t ... Read More
Is DCIS a pre-cancer?
A long time...: Especially if one includes dcis in this category, which is better designated pre-cancer. On the other hand, we sadly see neglected breast cancer with... Read More
What is the survival rate of cancer?
The number most frequently discussed is five-year survival. It is the percentage of patients who live at least five years after they are diagnosed with cancer.
Does MedicineNet provide medical advice?
MedicineNet does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. See additional information.
Do African American women have higher mortality rates than white women?
Several recent studies have looked at different racial survival statistics and have found a higher mortality (death rate) in African-American women compared to white women in the same geographic area.
Why is it important to catch cancer early?
For some cancers that are screened for on a regular basis, survival rates tend to be high. That’s because they’re often diagnosed early on, before symptoms develop . The 5-year survival rate for people with localized breast or prostate cancer is nearly 100 percent.
How long does it take to live with melanoma?
The 5-year survival rate for people with localized breast or prostate cancer is nearly 100 percent. (Localized means it hasn’t spread outside the original tissue or organ.) And when diagnosed early, melanoma has about a 99 percent 5-year survival rate. But catching some cancers early is difficult.
What are the symptoms of cancer?
A symptom is something you feel, such as fatigue or pain, that isn’t obvious to others. The nature of cancer signs and symptoms differ greatly, depending on where the cancer is located. Bladder cancer, for instance, causes blood in the urine, while brain cancer triggers terrible headaches.
How long does it take for cancer to grow?
But other cancers can form and grow undetected for 10 years or more, as one study found, making diagnosis and treatment that much more difficult.
What is the best test to find precancerous and cancerous colon polyps?
colon cancer. This slow-growing cancer may linger for a long time before symptoms appear. A colonoscopy remains the best test to find precancerous and cancerous colon polyps. kidney cancer.
What cancers can be detected with a Pap smear?
Getting regular Pap smears can help detect precancerous cells and lead to treatment that can stop them from becoming cancerous. pancreatic cancer. Symptoms can be subtle and don’t usually become noticeable until the cancer is in its advanced stages. Survival rates are low because of this. breast cancer.
When do cancer symptoms appear?
Typically, cancer signs and symptoms first appear when the cancerous tumor or mass has grown large enough that it begins to push against nearby organs and tissue, blood vessels, and nerves.
How do doctors treat cancer?
At this point, a doctor may success an alternative to traditional cancer treatments, including: 1 A clinical trial: Researchers may provide experimental treatments for the cancer, all of which may present higher risks than traditional treatments. 2 Palliative care: Doctors may suggest stopping treatment and working to relieve the symptoms of the cancer for the remainder of life. 3 Entering hospice: This type of palliative care focuses on end-of-life preparation.
What happens if you get asbestos in your lungs?
If you get asbestos in your lungs, fibers can get stuck in your lung tissue and can remain there for a long period of time . Asbestos can cause scarring, inflammation, and several types of serious lung problems, including pleural effusions, pleural plaques, asbestosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma. What Is Asbestos? According to the National Heart, ...
What is the difference between clinical trial and palliative care?
A clinical trial: Researchers may provide experimental treatments for the cancer, all of which may present higher risks than traditional treatments. Palliative care: Doctors may suggest stopping treatment and working to relieve the symptoms of the cancer for the remainder of life.
How do you know if you have lung cancer?
Common early signs of lung cancer include the following, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS): Cough that will not go away Coughing up blood Chest pains Hoarseness and pain when speaking Significant weight loss Fatigue or weakness Frequent infections Several recurring onsets of wheezing This is a non-exhaustive list of symptoms that may indicate ...
What happens if you have stage 4 lung cancer?
If you have stage 4 lung cancer and another party exposed you to the toxins that led to your diagnosis of cancer, you may be eligible to receive compensation for your medical costs, pain, and suffering.
What is clinical trial?
A clinical trial: Researchers may provide experimental treatments for the cancer, all of which may present higher risks than traditional treatments.
What type of palliative care focuses on end-of-life preparation?
Entering hospice: This type of palliative care focuses on end-of-life preparation.
How long does breast cancer last?
(An old study of untreated breast cancer suggest the 5 year survival rates are 18% at 5 years and 3.6% at 10 years.)
How many women refused breast cancer surgery?
It compared patients who refused breast cancer with those that those that accepted surgery. Only 1.3% of women (70) refused surgery. Of that group, 37 had no treatment, 25 had hormone-therapy only, and 8 had other types of treatments.
Does CAM help cancer?
Note that the difference is only statistically significant in (a) where all-causes of death were included and not (b), cancer-specific causes. So does that mean CAM helps? Probably not. The two groups are not well defined, and the “unknown” group could include CAM users – it is not a comparison of CAM versus no treatment. And as the types of CAM used was not documented, this is a heterogeneous group. The key point this comparison illustrates is that CAM users did dramatically worse than women that took conventional cancer care. Even delaying surgery to allow for CAM first significantly decreased the effectiveness of subsequent conventional care. The authors conclude, correctly, that there is no evidence to support using CAM as primary cancer treatment.
Does breast cancer cause progressive disease?
Consistent with the study above, the vast majority of breast cancer patients who refuse surgical intervention developed progressive disease. Even delaying surgery increased risks and overall mortality. Outcomes were better for patients that accepted surgery, but refused adjuvant treatments, like chemotherapy. However, even this strategy significantly raised 10-year mortality estimates.
Can you opt out of follow up on cancer?
Most patients who decide to opt-out of cancer treatment, also opt-out of any follow-up evaluation. So tracking down patients, and their outcomes, is essential. The effects of treatment refusals and delay, and the effectiveness of CAM as a substitute, has been evaluated in several groups of patients with breast cancer.
Who published the breast cancer chart review?
This was a medical chart review by Chang et al , published in the American Journal of Surgery in 2006. It examined breast cancer patients who refused conventional chemotherapy, or delay its initiation, in order to use CAM. The authors calculated each patient’s prognosis at the time of diagnosis. In total, 33 women were included. (Notably, patients who refused treatment and did not return for follow-up were excluded from the analysis, possibly biasing the results.) The results were grim:
Is it reasonable to say no to palliative care?
Saying “ no” may also be reasonable where the benefits from treatment are expected to be modest, yet the adverse effects from treatments are substantial. These scenarios are not uncommon in the palliative care setting.
Why do people refuse breast cancer treatment?
Among some of the more common reasons for the refusal of breast cancer treatment: A period of adjustment: No one really knows how they will respond to a cancer diagnosis until they get one. Some people will panic, others will become resolute, and others still will need time to come to terms with the diagnosis before moving forward.
What is patient centered care?
This dictates that people have the right to make decisions about the direction of their health care, even if that decision is to terminate treatment or seek alternative therapies. This applies as much to everyday ailments like the flu as much as it does serious ones like breast cancer .
How to deal with panic disorder?
While you may fully accept your diagnosis, you may find yourself absorbing the anxiety of others around you. Whatever you decide, the best thing you can do is share your calmness, rather than your frustration, with the ones you love. As much as you'll need their support, they need your support and understanding too.
What is skepticism about healthcare?
Skepticism about health care: People who have had bad healthcare experiences—or live in economically challenged communities where public service delivery is poor—may have deep-seated skepticism about the medical care offered them.
Why do doctors dismiss complementary therapies?
They might even dismiss complementary or integrative therapies because they either don't believe in them or assert (reasonably) that certain approaches are not evidence-based .
What is a second opinion on a cancer case?
A second opinion is not a rebuke of your oncologist. It is a means to gain assurance or perspective from a neutral party who has looked at your case with fresh eyes. If needed, seek a third or fourth opinion; just be certain you're not looking for someone who will tell you what you want to hear rather than providing you with sound and objective advice.
Why do women with cancer choose hospice?
Likewise, some women with advanced cancer will choose hospice care for its emphasis on emotional support and pain control, rather than aggressive therapeutic interventions that cause pain.