Medicine is a science of statistics, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the treatment of cancer.
Here’s a guide to understanding some of the statistical concepts is to take when considering the treatment of cancer.
First you must learn that no one with certainty predict the exact outcome in every patient. Instead, the rates of cancer mortality on the findings of a large number of people that are based have had the same disease. In other words, are the statistics that you only probabilities.
A second thing to know is that not all cancers have the same results. In other words – some cancers are more deadly than others.
And the third thing is to recognize that the probability of cure depends very much on the stage of your cancer.
For example, all cancers in patients with stage 1 disease have better survival than patients with stage 2 disease. And in patients with diseases of stage 2 have better survival than patients with stage 3 disease. And Level 3 patients a better survival than patients in the fourth stage have
That is why it is so important to you, what stage of the disease you know.
What 5-year survival?
When doctors mentioned the probability of survival, they do not tell you that you actually live three years and three months. Instead, they quote a figure, the so-called five-year survival. This number represents the probability that someone will be with your disease after 5 years still alive.
For example, if the 5-year survival is 25%, this means that the probability of being alive after 5 years is 25%. It is important to the particular group of patients is for the 5-year survival look like quoted. For example, it could include all patients with a specific type of cancer or it could include those with a particular stage of cancer.
For example, at 49 percent, about half of people with lung cancer diagnosed at an early stage, for at least five years to live after diagnosis. Thus, the five-year survival rate for lung cancer at an early stage of 49%. This contrasts with the rate of five-year survival for patients with lung cancer that spread (metastasize) has spread to other parts of the body, which is diagnosed only 3 percent.
As you can see, you may want to know what the survival rate for patients with the same stage of the disease.
What is the discount?
Discount refers to a narrowing of the cancer. Discounts may either completely or partially, depending on whether no evidence of cancer. Obviously, if no cancer is found after the treatment, then the forgiveness is complete.
If the cancer is small, but not completely disappeared is, the patient experienced a partial remission.
Complete remission can be a remedy. But there is still a chance of cancer back in the type of cancer. For people to achieve only partial remission, the cancer almost always repels.
Are there other statistical concepts that I know?
The survival rate after 5 years you know how many people are alive after 5 years, but does not say how many people are in complete remission at the end of five years (in other words, how many people survive 5 years and have no evidence for cancer).
Here are two more terms:
Disease-free survival after five years. This is the percentage of people who are not only alive after 5 years, but in complete remission.
Progression-free survival 5th This is the percentage of people who are alive after 5 years, but still signs of cancer, that cancer is not progressing. These include people who may have had some success with treatment, but not enough to eradicate the cancer completely.
Two other statistical terms you should be aware of the risks are relative and absolute risk:
Absolute risk reduction or benefit. This is the absolute difference between the results of alternatives. For example, if the treatment increased survival rate of 22% and treatment B increased survival rate of 20%, then the treatment A resulted in an absolute benefit (22% -20%) = 2%.
Reduction in the relative risk or benefit. It is the relative difference between the results of alternatives. Thus in the example above, the relative benefit (22% -20%) / 20% = 10%. This number is calculated as the difference in the percentage results.
You should beware, often the results as relative risk reduction or benefits shown because the number of his most impressive. For example, in the above example, a relative advantage of 10% sounds more impressive than the absolute power of 2%.
I hope you will be able to be a little more discerning about cancer statistics.
Dr. Glenn Sheiner is a doctor with degrees in emergency medicine, sports medicine and family medicine. Dr. Sheiner is the author of medical multimedia digital product called Cancer Research Online Made Easy.
