Stage 3 Cancer Treatment Timeline: Understanding Your Outlook
The following are some of the key points that you need to know about your outlook for surviving stage 3 cancer treatment. You may have already heard about these things from other sources or even read them in books but they might not be completely clear to you. If so, then reading this article will definitely make it easier for you to understand what is going on with your own situation.
1) Stage 3 Cancer Treatment Timeline:
Understanding Your Outlook
You are probably aware that there are different stages of cancer.
But do you know which stage you have? Or how many years after diagnosis you would survive?
Knowing your outlook is very important because it determines whether or not you will benefit from any particular type of treatment. And if your outlook isn’t good, then the likelihood of getting better with conventional treatments becomes less likely. So knowing your outlook is extremely important!
So let’s take a look at each of the stages of cancer. First up is the early stage (stage 0). This means that your tumor does not appear to be malignant, but rather it looks like normal tissue.
A typical example would be a skin lesion or benign growth in bone marrow.
A second common example is an ovarian cyst. By far the most common type of cyst, this can be detected on an ultrasound before it becomes symptomatic. These non-malignant types of tumors are not life threatening and the outlook is good.
This means with or without treatment you would survive, though with treatment it is likely that you would live a normal lifespan.
The next stage is the early stage 1, which has a less than 2% chance of becoming invasive. A small percentage of people can have skin tags, polyps, and others things removed even at this stage. Most people, however, will have to wait until the tumor becomes higher than stage 1.
The next stage is early stage
2. At this point there is a slightly higher chance (about a 3% chance per year) that the disease will become invasive.
A higher percentage of people will benefit from surgical removal of a skin tag or benign growth at this stage, but not everyone. If the lesion is cancerous, then the outlook worsens to where it becomes inoperable.
The next stage is early stage 3, which means that the primary tumor can be measured in at least a few centimeters across. Most people at this point will survive if the cancer is completely removed. If the cancer has spread to the surrounding lymph nodes or to distant sites, the outlook worsens.
However, even at this point there is a small chance of surviving with chemotherapy and/or radiation.
The next stage is early stage 4. At this point the cancer has either spread into the bloodstream, nearby lymph nodes, or to distant organs. Chemotherapy and radiation are common treatments.
However, at this point even with treatment the survival rate is quite low. Some people may still survive depending on the type and extent of cancer.
The final stage is late stage 4. At this point the cancer has spread to so many organs or is so widespread that it becomes incurable by conventional treatments like radiation and chemo. Most people at this point will live less than a year.
Still, some people can live longer and much longer, even up to 5 years or more.
Now that you have a better understanding of your situation, it is important to think about how this applies to you.
Are you going to sit back and hope for the best, or are you going to take matters into your own hands? What do you want to do about your situation?
Often people are too overwhelmed by the situation to make any decision at all. They basically do nothing, and hope for the best. While this approach might appeal to some people, it is not necessarily the best way to go for others. After all, there is no guarantee that you will ever be cured through conventional means (chemo and radiation). It is also an incredibly expensive and time-consuming process that can take up your valuable time as well as your money.
Don’t you think that you have more important things to spend your time and money on? Such as your family or traveling the world?
Of course you do! And that is why it might be a good idea to consider taking a different approach to dealing with this disease. An approach that may be more effective, cheaper, and less time consuming.
As strange as it may seem, one thing you could consider is not doing anything at all. Let me explain. While it is true that your condition may get worse (and possibly faster) due to the nature of your illness, it is impossible to determine whether or not you will have a relapse.
Many people have survived this same cancer for many years after the five year mark. Of course, these people have taken special care in monitoring their health and getting regular checkups. But you do not need to do this right now. Your cancer is in remission, and has started to shrink. It makes no sense to play into the hands of the cancer by undergoing treatment that may or may not work for you.
The other thing you could consider is changing your diet. Many people have cured their illnesses (both physical and mental) with a change in diet. It is not uncommon for doctors to prescribe diet changes along with traditional methods, so there is no reason to believe that it will not help you.
All you have to do is eat right, and your cancer may very well heal itself. Of course, this method may take some time, but so does traditional treatment. And at least with this approach you will not have to worry about the harmful side effects that come with chemotherapy and radiation.
Which approach will you choose?
If you decide to stick with your current treatment plan, turn to page 117.
If you decide to change your diet and lifestyle and see what happens, turn to page 139.
Back to Before You Go
“This looks amazing,” you say, as your fork clinks against your plate.
You are sitting down to a dinner of mushroom soup, rosemary roasted chicken, and sweet corn on the cob. The food looks delicious, and it smells even better.
“I’m glad you like it,” says Alison, who is sitting across from you at the table.
You pick up your spoon and take a bite of the soup. The mushrooms are rich and earthy, and melt in your mouth. You take a bite of the chicken next, its crisp skin giving way to tender, juicy flesh.
You tear off a piece of corn and dip it into the creamed corn. Perfect.
“
Well?”
asks Alison. “
Don’t you think it’s the best meal you’ve ever had?”
You smile, and take another bite of the chicken. You chew thoughtfully for a moment, savoring the flavor.
“It’s fantastic,” you say.
“Told you so,” says Alison. “I usually don’t brag though, because I make eating such a pleasurable experience that there’s no need to.”
Sources & references used in this article:
Life after breast cancer: understanding women’s health-related quality of life and sexual functioning. by PA Ganz, JH Rowland, K Desmond… – Journal of Clinical …, 1998 – researchgate.net
Women’s preferences for discussion of prognosis in early breast cancer by EA Lobb, DT Kenny, PN Butow… – Health …, 2001 – Wiley Online Library
Breast cancer in young women: poor survival despite intensive treatment by H Fredholm, S Eaker, J Frisell, L Holmberg… – PloS one, 2009 – journals.plos.org
Predicting prognosis using molecular profiling in estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer treated with tamoxifen by S Loi, B Haibe-Kains, C Desmedt, P Wirapati… – BMC genomics, 2008 – Springer
Ki67, chemotherapy response, and prognosis in breast cancer patients receiving neoadjuvant treatment by PA Fasching, K Heusinger, L Haeberle, M Niklos… – BMC cancer, 2011 – Springer
An online survival analysis tool to rapidly assess the effect of 22,277 genes on breast cancer prognosis using microarray data of 1,809 patients by B Györffy, A Lanczky, AC Eklund, C Denkert… – Breast cancer research …, 2010 – Springer
The effect of silicone implants on the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of breast cancer by N Handel – Plastic and reconstructive surgery, 2007 – cdn.journals.lww.com