Chances of Survival

Transcript

The stages that I just mentioned are used to describe survival rates by the medical community. The majority of times we talk about a five-year survival rate.

The survival rate is a relative survival rate. What that means is that if I’m diagnosed today and I’m told that I have 60% five-year survival rate, then that means that I have a 60% chance of being alive in five years in comparison to another female in her early forties who doesn’t have the cancer. So let’s talk about the five-year survival rate for ovarian cancer.

This is only for the big, bad, ugly epithelial one. And the others will be talked about in their respective future videos. So in general, for stage one ovarian cancer the five-year survival rate is about 90% or above. Stage two is 70 to 80%. Stage three is 40 to 60%. And unfortunately for stage four, it’s 20 to 30%.

I’d like to take a moment and say what I always tell my patients that these are just grouped numbers. We’re not going to focus on these statistics and instead focus on their individual treatment. I’ve had several patients who have done really well and have beaten the odds. So let’s focus on the positive.

Key Takeaways

1. The stages are used to describe survival rates by the medical community.

2. If I’m diagnosed today and I’m told that I have 60% five-year survival rate, that means that I have a 60% chance of being alive in five years compared to another female in her early 40s who doesn’t have the cancer.

3. This is only for the big, bad, ugly epithelial ovarian cancer.

4. Stage one: about 90% or above. Stage two: 70 to 80%. Stage three: 40 to 60%. Stage four: 20 to 30%.

5. We’re not going to focus on these statistics and instead focus on their individual treatment.