Can I Survive Uterine Cancer?
A prognosis is a statement about your prospect of surviving and recovering from cancer. It may be hard to ask, “Can I survive this?” But it’s a question you’re likely to have when you learn you have uterine cancer. Unfortunately, there isn’t an easy answer.
Your chance of recovery depends on these things.
- The type, grade, and stage of your cancer
- Your age
- Your general health
- How you respond to treatment
Before discussing your prognosis with you, your doctor will consider all the things that could affect your disease and treatment. Your doctor can describe how groups of patients who have a similar type of cancer (grade, stage, etc) have done. Information is available from researcher over many years, including thousands of women with uterine cancer, to help estimate the prognosis of your cancer. For an individual patient, it is hard to predict how one patient will do, however.
If your cancer is likely to respond well to treatment, your doctor will say you have a favorable prognosis. If the cancer is likely to be hard to control, your prognosis may be unfavorable. It is important to keep in mind, though, that a prognosis states what is probable. It is not a prediction of what will happen. No doctor can be absolutely certain about the outcome.
You may find it easier to cope if you know your prognosis and the statistics for how well a treatment might work. On the other hand, you might find statistics confusing and frightening. Or you might think they are too general to be useful. The doctor who is most familiar with your situation is in the best position to discuss your prognosis with you. He or she can explain what the statistics may mean for you. At the same time, you should keep in mind that your prognosis may change. A favorable prognosis can change if the cancer progresses or returns. An unfavorable one can change if treatment is successful. The decision to ask about your prognosis is a personal one. It is up to you to decide how much you want to know.
What Does the 5-Year Survival Rate for Uterine Cancer Mean?
Survival rates show the percentage of women who live for a specific length of time after their doctor finds the cancer. The rates are specific to women with a certain type and stage of cancer. Often, statistics refer to the 5-year survival rate. That’s the percentage of women who are living 5 years after diagnosis. These are the women it includes.
- Women who are free of disease
- Women who have few or no signs or symptoms of cancer
- Women who are being treated for cancer
Many women included in the 5-year rate live much longer than 5 years. Also, because the statistic is based on women diagnosed 5 or more years ago, it’s possible the outlook could be better today. Women who are more recently diagnosed often have a more favorable outlook. That’s because of changes in the way cancer is treated.
Survival rates are based on large groups of women. They cannot be used to predict what will happen to a particular woman. No 2 women are exactly alike, and treatment and responses to treatment vary greatly.
What Are Survival Rates for Women With Endometrial Cancer?
How well treatment works for women with endometrial cancer depends on the type and stage of cancer.
These are the facts from the 2006 Cancer Facts & Figures from the American Cancer Society. The overall 5-year survival rate for all stages is 84%. Here’s how it breaks out by stage.
- The overall 1-year survival rate is 96%.
- The 5-year survival rate for women whose cancer is found before it spreads is 96%.
- The 5-year survival rate for women whose cancer is found after its spread, but it’s still contained near the uterus, is 66%.
- The 5-year survival rate for advanced cancer, which has spread far from the uterus, is 25%.
- Survival rates for African American women are at least 10% lower than whites for every stage.
