Metastatic Breast Cancer Survival Rates is Getting Better
Metastatic breast cancer survival rates depend on where the cancer is located. Patients can do very well for years if the metastatic disease is isolated just to the bone. If there is a speck on the lungs or other organ that turns out to be cancer, that could mean a much worse prognosis, a much shorter expectancy of metastatic breast cancer survival rates. The bone is often the first place to spread to with breast cancer. Most happen in the next two years after the first time the cancer is diagnosed. The next plateau is within five years. After that, it’s very rare to have recurrences making metastatic breast cancer survival rates getting better. However, recurrences of metastatic breast cancer survival rates do still happen, even as late as 10 years later. But that’s very unusual in Metastatic breast cancer survival rates .
A study from M.D. Anderson Cancer Center that compared length of metastatic breast cancer survival rates, patients treated at their institution in five-year increments, found that median survival had doubled to 51 months (range 33-69 months) in 1995-2000 from a median survival of 27 months (range 21-33 months) only five years earlier, 1990-1994. Five years after their diagnosis with metastatic disease, 40% of these patients were still alive, as compared with 29% during 1990-1994. At the initiation of their metastatic breast cancer survival rates study, during the period 1974-79, only 10% of patients were still alive at five years and the median survival was only 15 months (range 11-19 months). For patients with small cancers and negative lymph nodes with no evidence of disease spread at the time of diagnosis, still about 5 to 10% of women end up developing metastatic disease. If the recurrence happens later in the five-year period after diagnosis, rather than earlier, that’s a good sign; the patient will probably have a better response to the treatments. If the recurrence happens very soon after diagnosis, like six months, a year, or 18 months, then patients tend to do worse.
Woman with metastasized breast cancer must live with the reality that her disease can no longer be cured, and that the disease is very likely to take her life. Consequently, the length of the remaining time she has to live, and the quality of that time, become issues of paramount concern. For her, access to the best care can make a significant difference, both in length of survival and in quality of life. With luck, excellent care, family support, personal motivation, and a skillful oncologist,metastatic breast cancer survival rates can be extend.
