Cancer Survival Statistics

Cancer survival statistics work like any other statistic, they express a statistical probability. So while pancreatic cancer survival statistics are not necessarily good, because it is an aggressive cancer, it is at the end of the day a statistic. A statistic is an estimate based on a sample of a population, providing an indication of the true population parameter. Which means in plain English that cancer survival statistics are an indication of how many people on average will survive cancer as an average, irrespective of personal conditions such as genetics, age, etc.

According to Sen. Mitch McConnell on Health-Care Reform

Remarks from the Senate Wednesday, June 10, 2009

"One thing most people like about health care in the U.S. is the quality of cancer care that's available here. Far too many Americans die from cancer. Yet for all the problems we have, the fact is, America boasts some of the highest cancer survival rates in the world".

How you handle your health before and after cancer has a direct affect on the prognosis of the disease. For instance the women that survive breast cancer are those that have examined their breasts regularly before they were diagnosed with cancer, and had regular mammograms. The statistics here are so good that those diagnosed in the earliest stages of breast cancer and who receive early treatment are a hundred percent.

That is not to minimize the treatment nor its affect on the patient, but it is amazing the mental difference that a hundred percent cancer survival prognosis can have. A bad mental attitude does not help being positive and upbeat is a vital process in adjusting cancer survival statistics in your favor. Despite the fact that most people are terrified when they first receive the news that they have breast cancer overcoming that fear is a major part of the prognosis. Understanding survival statistics can be extremely helpful in controlling your fears.

Few breast conserving treatment (BCT) data include women older than 70, yet a study of 910 women being treated by BCT for stage I-II breast cancer, when all patients received Radiotherapy (RT) found that a 65 month follow up found that a second cancer occurred in only 5.6 percent of cases. Six hundred and seventy six percent of cases were in complete remission (74.3%), 22 were evaluative (2.4%). 206 patients died (22.6%). The results of this study concluded that those that needed more aggressive treatment had been identified.

Improving the statistics is within your power, and empowerment regarding your treatment is the first of a series of steps that enable you to cheat the cancer survival statistics. Today cancer is a serious disease but it is not an automatic death sentence. The chance of surviving cancer depends firstly and foremost on the type of cancer, but your immediate environment, your diet, your mental state, your lifestyle all have an impact on whether your cancer survival statistics are better than the average.

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