If you are a woman who has contracted breast cancer that has yet to metastasize you have an average five-year survival rate of about 86%. What this means is that 86% of all women who have contracted breast cancer survive the disease for at least five years. Though that number is extremely high it is merely an overall average. In many categories the numbers are greater, and the survival rates are better. These numbers of course depend on which stage individuals detect their cancer and seek medical treatment. Just like other cancers, breast cancer develops in different stages. Each of these stages has both a letter and a number. The cancer types are labeled based on a standard classification of cancers (T, N, and M and a scale from 0-IV). A T indicates the size of an individuals tumor, N means the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes and M means distant metastasis. When a tumor spreads from the primary tumor to other areas and spreads tumors to the secondary areas thus forming the same type of tumors. Tumors that are labeled as TX are not able to be assessed. T0 means that no evidence of cancer exists. Tis means that the person in question has a cancer that could be one of three different cancer types: DCIS (ductal carcinoma situ), LCIS (lobular carcinoma in situ) or even Paget's disease. Paget's disease is an extremely rare cancer in which the nipple and/or areola itself is actually cancerous. Cancers in Stage 0 are in the earliest possible stage. In cancers that are Stage I, the tumors are fewer than 2cm in size and have yet to spread. Stage II cancer means that a tumor has grown to 2-5cm in diameter, and Stage III tumors are larger than 5cm. If an individual has a tumor that is stage IV then it is attached to the chest wall, and has typically spread to the individual's lymph nodes. Because of the advances in diagnosis and treatment techniques many individuals are able to catch their cancer and eliminate it in the earliest stages. For women and men who are treated while their cancer is in Stage 0 or Stage I the chances of an individual surviving for five years is about 100%. Men are also capable of contracting breast cancer; the rate at which men can contract the disease is much less than women. Individuals suffering with Stage II cancers have survival rates ranging between 81% and 92%. The survival rate doesn't dip until you get to Stage III at which point the rate is around 67%. If an individual has Stage IV cancer it is about 20%. Of course, many women and men do beat the odds. Even many of those in later stages survive significantly longer than seven years. As diagnostic techniques and treatment methods continue to improve the numbers do as well. As medical knowledge advances, more and more on the lower end of the category move into the upper reaches. One new diagnostic technique, for example, is QM-MSP (quantitative multiplex methylation-specific PCR). Discovered in 2001, it is a chemical test that uses fluid from the breast. By analyzing chemical tags on certain genes, it's possible to detect cancer clumps as small as 50 cells with 86% reliability. As it and other innovative methods move into the mainstream, 'early' detection becomes 'earliest possible' detection. That greatly improves the odds of successful treatment. Treatments are becoming better. Hormone therapy, molecule specific drugs, and targeted radiation are all now available. These amazing methods are capable of saving the lives of many individuals. Though never pleasant, and still a serious condition, breast cancer no longer has to be life threatening or even permanently scarring.
If you are a woman who has contracted breast cancer that has yet to metastasize you have an average five-year survival rate of about 86%. What this means is that 86% of all women who have contracted breast cancer survive the disease for at least five years. Though that number is extremely high it is merely an overall average. In many categories the numbers are greater, and the survival rates are better. These numbers of course depend on which stage individuals detect their cancer and seek medical treatment.
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