It’s difficult to find reliable statistics to definitively prove all of the statistics in this or some of the other educational posts I’ve posted because the people who are initially diagnosed at an early stage (I-III) and then progress to Stage IV are not counted. We do have two data points that are helpful, the total number of people living with breast cancer who have not yet died and the number of people diagnosed Stage IV de novo or from the beginning.
Utilizing those data points and other information that can be extrapolated, the percentage above is obtained. I get that this can be controversial and creates both fear and angst. There is no helping that because this information is based on FACTS.
There is no cure for breast cancer, at any stage. When men and women are told that their early stage breast cancer was cured, that they are cancer free, they are being sold a fiction that they want to believe.
Telling the truth often hurts, but that doesn’t change the reality. Remission is the word, not cure, not cancer free.
If we are told the truth, we can deal with it. If everyone was told the truth, then the ranks of ally’s we need would have to come out of the shadows and fight with us.
No Half Measures 
Thank you Abigail for sharing my motto has become Stay Tuned I am Stable at this Time #NotTodayMBC 👊🏻
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for reading and commenting!!
LikeLike
I am uneasy when someone tells me they are cured or cancer free after breast cancer treatments. In reality one is in remission and they must learn to live with their new norm.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Exactly. When I’ve tried to educate, most early stagers don’t want to hear it. I do get it, MBC is scary. Thank you for reading and commenting
LikeLike
I’ve talked to 3 oncologists and they say that the stats are misleading because they do not distinguish between the different types of breast cancer cells. According to one oncologist, Estrogen positive cancer cells never completely go away. They can reoccur after 19 years. According to another oncologist, the immunology drugs used to treat HER 2 positive cancer cells also destroy the cancer stem cells, so there is a high likelihood that if the patient survives 2 years without recurrence, there will be no recurrence.
They are still not sure about treating triple negative. Patients respond differently to the chemo drugs. None of the oncologists I spoke with had stats on surviving rates for triple negative because it appears that it kills before it can recur.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Statistics are always difficult to navigate when the category is as diverse as breast cancer. I hear you. Thank you for reading and commenting!!
LikeLiked by 1 person