chemotherapy

HELLO ALL---JUST BACK FROM THE SITEMAN CANCER CENTER IN MISSOURI..TALK TO AN ONCOLOGY DOCTOR AT WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY ABOUT CHEMO AND THIS IS WHAT HE SAID....IF YOU TAKE 1OO WOMEN AND THEY DECIDE AFTER SURGERY FOR CANCER REMOVAL THAT THEY WILL DO NO ADDITIONAL THERAPY 34 OUT OF 100 WILL BE ALIVE AND WITHOUT CANCER IN 10 YEARS..61 OUT OF 100 WILL RELAPSE...5 OUT OF 100 WILL DIE OF OTHER CAUSES...AND IF THE WOMEN TOOK CHEMO-THERAPY ONLY 16 OUT 100 WILL BE ALIVE AND WITHOUT CANCER BECAUSE OF THERAPY...FOR HORMONAL THERAPY LESS THAN 1 OUT OF 100 WILL BE ALIVE AND WITHOUT CANCER BECAUSE OF THERAPY...AND COMBINED THERAPY IS ALSO ONLY 16 OUT OF 100...THIS WAS JUST A TALK ABOUT CHEMO AND THE BENEFITS OF...I WAS SURPRISED AT THE NUMBERS....NO WONDER THE DECISION IS SO TOUGH....I JUST FOUND THIS INTERESTING AND THOUGHT MAYBE SOME ONE ELSE WOULD TOO.

[Lolly]

Interesting, but not relavant for HER2+, the statistics for this group are still being compiled.
However, if 34 of 100 who don't have chemotherapy survive regardless, and 16 of 100 survive with therapy, then I interpret that to mean that therapy improves chances of survival by almost 50%. Kind of shocking really, that it's such a low percentage, but hope this will change with the new therapies in trial, such as vaccines and antibodies.
Thanks for the report.

Hi there,
Are you sure about these stats. They seem grim to me. Especially considering that chemo is supposed to cut the chance of recurrence between 30-40 %. If you look up survival statistics, it also depends on the initial stage of diagnosis and the type of tumor you have: ie: ER/PR status, HER2 status, lympho-vascular inv., tumor grade etc... I don't think it's as black and white as you said. Our onc. said that most women with early stage breast cancer have a "GOOD" chance of being cured. That is open to interpretation but I think that the cure rate must be around 60-70% with adjuvant Herceptin. I would love to hear other info.

Originally posted by *_anne_*@Jan 5 2005, 10:50 AM
Hi there,
Are you sure about these stats. They seem grim to me. Especially considering that chemo is supposed to cut the chance of recurrence between 30-40 %. If you look up survival statistics, it also depends on the initial stage of diagnosis and the type of tumor you have: ie: ER/PR status, HER2 status, lympho-vascular inv., tumor grade etc... I don't think it's as black and white as you said. Our onc. said that most women with early stage breast cancer have a "GOOD" chance of being cured. That is open to interpretation but I think that the cure rate must be around 60-70% with adjuvant Herceptin. I would love to hear other info.

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I WAS JUST REFERRING TO WHAT THE DOCTOR TOLD US...REGARDING CHEMO..I PERSONALLY AGREE WITH LOLLY....I DONT THINK THE DOCTORS KNOW THE WHOLE STORY ON HER2 B.C. AND THEY ARE LEARNING ,JUST AS ALL AFFECTED ARE...YOU CAN READ ALL DIFFERENT OPINIONS AND SEE THAT...

[Lolly]

I remember reading similar stats back in the early 90's. I really do think the percentages are higher now.