Being diagnosed with cancer does not have to mean a death sentence. ย
Cancer survival has doubled in the last 40 years
Statistics showย that half of the peopleย diagnosed with cancerย survive for at least ten years, which is much better than years ago. ย This is because ofย developmentsย of new treatmentsย and also advances in detection (soย cancers can be found and therefore treatedย much earlier). ย So in general, on preliminaryย diagnosis, cancerย is no longer a death sentence. ย However, the type of cancer and the time when it is diagnosed do make a differenceย to survival rates
Cancer Researchย UK give the following statistics
- Survival varies between cancer types, ranging from 98% for testicular cancer to just 1% for pancreatic cancer.
- Many of the most commonly diagnosed cancers have ten-year survival of 50% or more.
- More than 80% of people diagnosed with cancer types which are easier to diagnose and/or treatย survive their cancerย for ten years or more.
- Less than 20% of people diagnosed with cancer types which are difficult to diagnose and/or treat survive their cancer for ten years or more.
Even the treatments are not as harsh as they used to be. ย The techniquesย for discovering the diseaseย have improved tremendouslyย and treatmentsย are no longer damaging and unsophisticated. ย Today we have improved keyhole surgery, highly targeted radiotherapy and a wide range of very sophisticatedย cancer drugs.
So the future may be brighter than you think.
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