Cancermath life expectancy really low...help me understand

AnaMaria34

Hi All,

I'm so very glad to this place to ask questions and better understand what is going on.

When I put my information into cancermath.net it says that my normal life expectancy is 47.7 and that this cancer shortens it by 8.2 years to 39.5. (I'm 34.5 now.) Why is my life expectancy without cancer so low? I thought life expectancy for a female was in the 80's.

I'm so confused as I know this is a well respected website with "better" numbers than other cancer calculators.

Please help me understand!

Icietla

Hi AnaMaria34.

The calculator was not giving you a (mean or median) total life expectancy. It was showing you (mean or median) remaining life expectancy for a woman of your age, and also for a woman diagnosed with your tumor characteristics at your age. That calculator assumes that there is no metastasis.

labelle

I haven't looked at Cancermath for awhile, but I think it shows how many more years you are expected to live with and without cancer. That would make sense given the average life expectancy for women is close to 80.

Lucy55

Its confusing ..but I think it's saying at 35.5 years old ,without your cancer would be expected to live another 47.7 years ..because of your condition it MAY be shortened to living another 39.5 years .

I'm hopeless at this stuff , so someone please correct me if Im wrong .

AnaMaria34

Aaah. That makes much more sense and is a relief! Thanks ladies!

letsgogolf

Cancermath matched my Oncotype score. My Oncotype score was 3 with a recurrence chance of 4%. Cancermath also gave me a 4% recurrence score. Pretty interesting and useful for those without insurance who can't afford the Oncotype. None of the programs that I used factor in radiation., nor does Oncotype. Curious about that because radiation is pretty standard with lumpectomies which most of us have. Any idea why?

Lucy55

Hmm..I wonder if radiation isn't taken into account because they are calculating risk of mets not local recurrence ..?