Mesothelioma survival rates
Survival rates are often used by doctors as a standard way of discussing a person’s prognosis (outlook). Some people want to know the survival statistics for people in similar situations, while others may not find the numbers helpful, or might not even want to know them. To get survival rates, doctors have to look at people who were treated at least several years ago. Although the numbers below are among the most current we have available, improvements in treatment since then could result in a better outcome for people now being diagnosed with mesothelioma.
Survival rates are often based on previous outcomes of large numbers of people who had the disease, but they can’t predict what will happen in any person’s case. Knowing the type and the stage of a cancer is important in estimating outcome. But many other factors can affect survival, such as a person’s age and overall health, the treatment received, and how well the cancer responds to treatment. Even taking these other factors into account, survival rates are at best rough estimates. Your doctor can tell you if the numbers below apply, as he or she is familiar with your situation.
In a large, multi-institutional study that investigated how tumor histology and other factors affect survival, researchers observed similar survival rates. Among more than 3,000 pleural mesothelioma patients, epithelial cell type had the best survival rate, with a median survival of 19 months. Sarcomatoid patients experienced a median survival of eight months, the worst outcome of all cell types. Median survival for biphasic patients was 13 months.
There are certain factors in your prognosis you cannot change. These factors include your age and gender, specifics about your current blood characteristics, cancer cell type and stage.
Age
Statistics reveal the difference age makes: 43 percent of patients younger than 45 survive five years after diagnosis, compared to just 5.7 percent of patients age 65 or older.
Gender
Women with pleural mesothelioma typically have a better prognosis than men. Researchers suspect hormonal differences may play a role in women responding better to treatment.
A review of data from the National Cancer Institute shows the 5-year survival rate for women is almost three times higher than that for men.
Race
Mesothelioma is almost exclusive to white individuals, who make up 95 percent of patients. This vast difference may be in large part because black and Hispanic individuals are less likely to be diagnosed with any type of cancer, mesothelioma included. Data from SEER state that African-Americans and Hispanics account for only 8 percent of all cancer diagnoses.
Regardless of race, about 40 percent of mesothelioma patients survive one year. Two years from diagnosis, approximately 20 percent of patients survive. Although race does not appear to impact mesothelioma survival rate initially, as time goes on race becomes a more telling factor. From three years on, the survival rate of white patients is slightly worse than other ethnicities.
Five-year survival among whites is 7.6 percent, compared with 12.3 percent for blacks. After 10 years, only 4.2 percent of white patients survive, while 9.5 percent of blacks are alive after the same amount of time. SEER data used to calculate these survival rates includes Hispanics among patients who identify as both black and white. Because mesothelioma is so rare among other races, reliable survival statistics are not available.
How to Improve?
Survival rates are used to give patients an approximation of how long people with a similar diagnosis survived. They are based on a range of factors from tumor location to the patient’s age. Survival rates may give patients a clearer picture of their diagnosis so they can develop a treatment plan best suited for them. Many patients have a survival time different than survival rates initially indicate, sometimes regardless of the treatment received. With this in mind, patients should take survival rate statistics with a grain of salt and not be discouraged. All patients are unique, creating the possibility that these rates may not apply to them.
