i have already outlived these stats, and the ones i was given in 2002 when re-diagnsoed with mets.
the same brochure also gives more information about survival rates on page 29:
Five-year survival statistics are based on cancer patients diagnosed between 1999-2005, 10-year survival rates are based on diagnoses between 1995-2005, and 15-year survival rates are based on diag- noses between 1989-2005. All patients were followed through 2006. Relative survival rates are used to adjust for normal life expectancy (and events such as death from heart disease, accidents, and diseases of old age). Relative survival is calculated by dividing the percent- age of observed 5-year survival for cancer patients by the 5-year survival expected for people in the general population who are similar to the patient group with respect to age, sex, race, and calendar year of obser- vation. Relative survival rates are not calculated for Hispanics/Latinos, Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders, and American Indians/Alaska Natives because reliable estimates of normal life expectancy are not available for these groups. Therefore, cause-specific survival rates are presented. Cause-specific survival rates are the probability of not dying of breast cancer within 5 years after diagnosis. Cause-specific survival does not account for stage and age at diagnosis. When referenced as such, 5-year survival statistics were originally published in SEER Cancer Statistics Review, 1975-2006.
Horner MJ, Ries LAG, Krapcho M, et al., eds. SEER Cancer Statistics Review, 1975-2006. National Cancer Institute. Bethesda, MD, http://seer.cancer.gov/csr/1975_2006/, based on November 2008 SEER data submission, posted to the SEER web site, 2009.
it's a lot of medical mumbo-jumbo, but basically i have already beaten the odds several times. now we have to hope that vast array of chemotherapies and other targeted therapies will continue to keep my cancer under control.
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