Cancer Statistics, Cancer Support and Community Connection Forum - August 29th, 2009 - 1 Comment
Are there any statistics on what percentage of people would survive cancer if they received no treatment?
I realize there are different forms of cancer, and "survive" is a vague term, but I just want to know if there is any knowledge on this topic in general. For example, is it closer to 100% death rate, or maybe something more like 50%?
There are huge volumes of statistics on this topic, and the answer depends upon the type of cancer, it’s aggressiveness, and the age of the patient. It is not possible to give a general answer, since there are more than three hundred different types of cancer, and each behaves differently.
But one example: treatment is often not recommended for older men with carcinoma of the prostate because it is a chronic condition that progresses slowly and they are more likely to die of something else.
But for most cancers, this is not the case. Life expectancy without treatment is measured in months to years, and the victim is more likely to die from complications of the cancer.
The standard treatments for cancer are surgery, irradiation and chemotherapy. These may all be used in some cases, or just irradiation and/or chemotherapy in inoperable tumors.