October 15, 2024

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5-year cancer survival rate: Can cancer patient only live for 5 years?

 

5-year cancer survival rate: Can cancer patient only live for 5 years?

 

5-year cancer survival rate: Can cancer patient only live for 5 years?  What does the 5-year cancer survival rate mean?  Most people got it wrong.

 

5-year cancer survival rate: Can cancer patient only live for 5 years?

 

Cancer patients and their families must have heard about the 5-year survival rate, because many doctors often talk about the 5-year survival rate. Your 5-year survival rate for this tumor is 60%, and your 5-year survival rate is 40%.

Many patients and their families are at a loss. What does the 5-year survival rate mean? Many people think that the 5-year survival rate means that the patient can only live for 5 years. 5 years is the patient’s limit. Every time I hear the doctor talk about the 5-year survival rate, I do not understand the meaning or misunderstand the doctor’s meaning, and then panic and panic. Not all day long.

In fact, the 5-year survival rate does not mean this. Today, let’s take a look at the popular science, the true meaning of the 5-year survival rate.

 

What does the 5-year survival rate of cancer patients mean?

Because malignant tumors have the chance of recurrence and metastasis, unlike other benign diseases, they will not relapse after being cured and will not be life-threatening, such as fractures, trauma and other benign diseases.

Therefore, after surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, cancer patients need regular review and follow-up to monitor whether the tumor has recurrence or metastasis, because the tumor recurrence or metastasis may be life-threatening.

So, the 5-year survival rate of cancer patients refers to the probability of survival for more than 5 years after suffering from cancer. In other words, it is the probability that you will be alive after 5 years if you have a tumor. For example, the 5-year survival rate of breast cancer is 60%, which refers to patients with breast cancer. 60% of patients survive for more than 5 years.

The overall survival rate is a statistical concept, which reflects the data of a group. When it is applied to each person, there may be errors and it is not very accurate.

 

Why choose 5-year survival rate?

Many people will ask why we should choose a 5-year survival rate instead of a 1-year, 2-year survival rate. This is because the peak period of cancer recurrence and metastasis is the first 5 years after surgery. If there is no recurrence or metastasis within 5 years, the probability of recurrence and metastasis is very low, and it can be considered that a clinical cure has been achieved.

So, if you unfortunately suffer from cancer, but there is no recurrence or metastasis after 5 years, then congratulations, you have basically defeated cancer. However, a very small number of patients will have delayed recurrence and metastasis. Therefore, cancer patients need long-term monitoring and review.

 

What does the 5-year survival rate have to do with?

The 5-year survival rate is closely related to the type of tumor. Some tumors are low in malignancy and have a high 5-year survival rate, such as thyroid cancer, breast cancer, and colorectal cancer.

Some tumors are highly malignant and have a low 5-year survival rate, such as pancreatic cancer, lung cancer, esophageal cancer, liver cancer and so on. Among them, the 5-year survival rate of pancreatic cancer is only about 5%, which is a veritable king of cancer.

Cancer survival rate is also closely related to tumor staging. For the same type of tumor, the earlier the stage, the better the prognosis; in the advanced stage, the tumor cells have spread to various parts of the body, the treatment effect is very poor, and the prognosis is very poor.

Taking colon cancer as an example, the 5-year survival rate of first-stage colon cancer is as high as 90%, the second-stage only 70%, the third stage is about 50%, and the fourth stage is only about 10%. Therefore, tumors must be detected early, treated early, and regular physical examinations are very important.

The cancer survival rate is also closely related to the local medical level, the degree of tumor differentiation of the patient, whether to receive standardized treatment, age, the patient’s physical condition, and the patient’s mood.

 

(source:internet, reference only)


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