American Cancer Society Stats

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Grandi
Grandi Member Posts: 23
edited June 2014 in Just Diagnosed

I am not sure that I am posting this question in the correct forum so please forgive me if I made a mistake. I am new to breast cancer and I am trying to do some research into 5 year and beyond survival statistics. I know that every person is an individual and the stats cannot tell me what will happen in any particular case. When I look up 5 year survival stats for stage 3 (in my case 3a) I see them listed as low at 67% and as high as 72%. What is confusing me is that on the American Cancer Society website, looking up survival stats by stage, they list stage 3 as having a 72% survival at 5 years. However, there is a pdf on their site (http://www.cancer.org/acs/groups/content/@research/documents/document/acspc-040951.pdf) that says that for caucasian people with regional disease (spread to lymph nodes)  is 84%. That seems like a big difference to me. The pdf is entitled Breast Cancer Facts and Figures 2013-2014. Why the discrepancy since they don't look at 3a, b, and c separately? Do any of you have any thoughts on this? Thanks in advance for your opinions.

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  • Moderators
    Moderators Member Posts: 25,912
    edited April 2014

    breast cancer research news

    Grandi - I moved your post to the Forum Just Diagnosed because it may lend you more responses. If not let us know and we will try to direct you appropriately. I also inserted a link above to our site's page on Research News which also may be helpful. Thanks for connecting to the community. The Moderatos

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  • Kicks
    Kicks Member Posts: 4,131
    edited April 2014

    Stage is ONLY part of the DX and progonosis.  

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  • Grandi
    Grandi Member Posts: 23
    edited April 2014

    Moderators, thank you very much for the help.

     Kicks, I do understand that stage is just one part. Are you saying that there are so many other factors that go into survival stats?

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  • farmerlucy
    farmerlucy Member Posts: 3,985
    edited April 2014

    Hi Grandi  - So sorry your find yourself here. Here are some of the websites I used when I was first diagnosed

    Cancermath.net

    Predict.nhs.uk

    AdjuvantOnline.com (it requires registration as a medical professional )

    I literally ran my numbers over and over and over and over in my head when I was first diagnosed. That is something we all just have to work through. As time goes on it gets easier to accept.  If I can help with anything please let me know.

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  • Grandi
    Grandi Member Posts: 23
    edited April 2014

    Thanks so much Farmerlucy. I will try to work up the courage to try those sites. I do appreciate your help.

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  • bettysgirl
    bettysgirl Member Posts: 938
    edited April 2014

    i also found conflicting stats in regards to stage 3 - I decided to throw the stats out the window and say that i am not a number i am a survivor that is going to do all i can to get the most benefit from the treatments and then go on and live my life. I have seen BC touch so many around me...from all stages and grades..some have recurred and some have not. Who knows why some recur and some don't. We all know that some cancers are more aggressive than others, yet i have seen one survivor with a horrific DX that is still with us almost 20 yrs later. I am sure that someone who loves research and reads more about it than I do will eventually post here and answer you better.

    Best Wishes

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