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Do the majority of people with cancer live or die?

(4 posts)

  1. MacJedi
    Member

    Like all of us, people with cancer live until they die :-)
    I think what you mean is, once diagnosed with cancer, are your chances of dying great than your chances of surviving? And the answer to that is, it depends.
    It depends on the type of cancer, how far advanced it is, and how aggressively it is treated.
    There are cancers for which the survival rate is nearly 100%, and cancers for which the survival rate is heartbreakingly low.
    The good news is, for most cancers, your chances of surviving are higher than they were a decade ago.

    Posted 2 years ago #

  2. Spreedog
    Member

    Best Answer

    Denisedds is saving time - and correct as usual.
    FYI - - BCC is basal cell carcinoma. SCC is squamous cell carcinoma.
    Both are skin cancers. Almost always cured with surgery alone.
    Remember that "cancer" is a collection of 200+ diseases

    American Cancer Society predictions for 2008:
    Men diagnosed with cancer - 745,180
    Women diagnosed with cancer - 692,000
    Total new cancer diagnoses = 1,437,180
    Deaths from cancer in men 2008 - 294,120
    Deaths from cancer in women 2008 - 271,530
    Total deaths 565,650 = 39% of the new cases number
    [These are data not including non-melanoma skin cancers which are the most numerous cancers and the most curable - like the BCC and SCC that Denisedds mentioned.]

    Here are the five year survival data from the ACS 2008
    [Note that five year survival does not necessarily mean a “cure”.]
    All sites 66%
    Breast 89%
    Colon 65%
    Leukemia 50%
    Lung cancers 16% - Note this is the worst and caused by our smoking cigarettes
    Melanoma 92%
    Non-Hodgkin lymphoma 64%
    Ovary 45%
    Pancreas 5% - this is bad too. Perhaps the worst of all cancers.
    Prostate 99%
    Rectum 66%
    Urinary bladder 81%

    Note that most are still cured with surgery - not by chemotherapy.

    Posted 2 years ago #

  3. Denisedds
    Member

    The majority live. The two most common cancers are BCC & SCC of the skin with more than 1 million cases diagnosed each year. This is more than breast, prostate and colon cancer combined yet they account for 0.1% of all deaths due to cancer.

    Posted 2 years ago #

  4. Viol3t
    Member

    yes that's what I meant

    Posted 2 years ago #

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