Cancer Patients are Living Longer!

Longer that what you ask?

 

A recent article, published in JAMA Oncology, reported an analysis of more than 1,000,000 cancer patients diagnosed between 1990 and 2009. The study started with people diagnosed between 1990 and 1994 and then compared their survival with those diagnosed between 1995 and 1999, 2000 and 2004, and 2005 and 2009. Each five year segment showed a better five-year survival rate than the previous five year segment. 

All cancers are not equal, however, and survival rates vary greatly. Prostate and breast cancer survival rates increased significantly. Liver, pancreatic, and lung cancer survival rates were lower, but there was still an improvement. Any overall improvement is a bit of good news in a disease that has been and continues to be extremely hard to manage and cure.

Age is a factor

Younger patients—50 to 64 for this study‑‑had better survival rates than older patients—75 to 85, but the older group also showed a significant survival increase.

What should I do?

Is there a magic bullet that we should all know about to improve our survival? Probably not. Nobody has identified any one thing that will work for everybody. Preventive measures can impact some cancers such as skin and lung, but in other cases it is likely a combination of early diagnosis, new medications, and overall improved treatments.

Bottom Line

The best option is to NEVER GET CANCER. Most of us with cancer didn’t imagine that we’d ever be diagnosed. The longer we survive (12 years for me) the better the likelihood that there will be new drugs and other treatments that can help us manage our disease. The drugs I am now taking did not exist five years ago. The drugs I will take five years from now are probably still experiments in a petri dish in some basement lab. So, hang in there.

A cure would be nice, too.

axman