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

Why Doesn’t My PSA ever go Down?

Don’t I wish…

Every couple of weeks I put something on my blog that relates a lot or a little to my prostate cancer. It’s easier to write about other people and other issues. After my visit to the oncologist last week, I guess it’s time to focus on me again.

After nearly eight years, my prostate cancer is pretty well under control; managed but not cured. It’s still there but seems to be pretty quiet. But my low PSA doubled from September to December and again from December to March. That hadn’t happened in more than three years – since I started taking low dose hormones. My prescription was doubled in December and increased again just last week.

Most guys with incurable prostate cancer know that sooner or later, whatever treatments and meds they’ve had, their cancer will find a way to grow anyway and their PSA will increase – and increase. There are several levels of medications and I’m still at (almost) the lowest hormone treatment level. There is an inevitable progression once prostate cancer isn’t cured by first level treatments.

Progression is slow, no need to worry, no need to make any new decisions just now, but there will be a time when I’ll go to another level of treatment – maybe instead of pills, it’ll be delivered by injection or IV. Maybe there will be new medications to try or new and promising clinical trials. I’m not holding my breath waiting for a cure just now.

I’ll take my increased meds (hopefully my prescription plan will still pay) and wait and see. There really aren’t any changes in diet or exercise or lifestyle that might make a difference – I’ve tried to do all the right things already.

axman