Cancer Statistics - September 9th, 2009 - 2 Comments
What are the chances of survival from Lung Cancer?
My mother in law has just found out she has lung cancer and a tumor in her lung. She will be getting surgery to remove the tumor tomorrow. What are the chances of everything being okay? Will she have to take radiation or chemotherapy afterwards? I would like to get input from anyone that has gone thru this experience. She is very scared and was a smoker for 22 years. Any information is more than welcome.
I’m very sorry. Lung cancer has one of the lowest survival rates. That doesn’t mean there’s no hope, but you have to be realistic.
Forecasting the Course of Disease: Lung Cancer Prognosis
Overall, fewer than 10% of people with primary lung cancer are alive 5 years after diagnosis. But 5-year survival rates may be as high as 35 to 40% among patients who undergo surgical resection for cancer that has not spread beyond the lung. General estimates of stage-specific median survival times—the point at which 50% of patients are still living—are as follows:
Stage 1a – more than 60 months (> 5 years)
Stage 1b – about 36 months (3 years)
Stage 2a – about 24 months (2 years)
Stage 2b – about 20 months (< 2 years)
Stage 3a – about 15 months (< 1.5 years)
Stage 3b – about 12 months (1 year)
Stage 4 – about 8 months (< 1 year)
The overall 5-year relative lung cancer survival rate stands at around 15%. It goes without saying that the stage of the lung cancer plays a role in the survival rate.
For example, if the lung cancer was diagnosed while the cancer is still confined to the primary site, meaning it is in a localized stage, the survival rate is about 49.3%. If the cancer has spread to regional lymph nodes or directly beyond the primary site, then there is now just a 37% survival rate. Further, survival rate stands at 39% if the cancer has already metastasized.
I did manage to read a study that said chemotherapy can help lung cancer patients live longer, especially if it’s given after surgery has completely removed the tumor. According to that study, that chemotherapy with the drug cisplatin improved the 5-year survival by 4%.