Pancreatic Cancer Statistics
There are many pancreatic cancer statistics available. However, no national statistics exist on different stages of cancer. They also do not consider specific treatments. Thus, they are generalizations and should not be taken as absolutes. Also, a term called "5 year survival" is often used. This means doctors follow people for 5 years after treatment. If the person survives this long, there is little chance that the pancreatic cancer will return. It does not mean you will only live for five years after diagnosis. Also remember that the stage of your pancreatic cancer affects your survival chances: a person with early stage pancreatic cancer will have a better chance of surviving than a person with advanced tumor growth.
By and large, the prognosis for pancreatic is poor. When symptoms finally appear, the cancer is well advanced. And sadly, only 15 to 20 percent are candidates for surgery. Thus, little accurate 5 year survival rate data exists. Unfortunately, only 10 to 15 percent of people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer survive longer than 1 year. Only about 3 percent live longer than the 5 year study period. This statistic holds for 10 year survival, with 2 percent living at least that long.
Pancreatic cancer statistics, and cancer statistics in general, use special terminology. Five terms are common: Incidence, Mortality, Survival, Prevalence, and Lifetime Risk. Incidence refers to the number of cases newly diagnosed within a set time period. Mortality means the number of deaths in a specific length of time. Survival states the proportion of patients still surviving at certain points after cancer diagnosis. Prevalence is the number of people alive on a given calendar date. And Lifetime Risk refers to the chance of developing or dying from cancer over one's life.
Pancreatic cancer statistics are as follows (most numbers are taken from the National Cancer Institute's database): According to the 2002 SEER study, Incidence (annual) of Pancreatic cancer is 30,300 cases annually. Incidence Rate stands at about 1 in 8,976 or 0.01% or 30,300 members of the US population. This extrapolates to, in the US, 2,524 cases per month, 582 per week, 83 per day, and 3 per hour. Of these case, 31,270 people died. The Incidence statistics increased only slightly in an American Cancer Society study in 2004 - around 31,860 total new cases of pancreatic cancer in the US occurred that year. Of these, 15,740 were new male cases, and 16,120 were new female pancreatic cancer. This also shows an increase in rates of pancreas cancer in women. This may be due to the declining health and fitness standards of both sexes, which tends to close gaps between the two where disease is concerned. The Lifetime Risk for pancreatic cancer is 1 woman in every 195 women and 1 man in every 36 men. This, however, is taken from a year 2000 Australian study (AIHW). Prevalence of pancreatic cancer: Studies estimate 27,000 new cases of pancreatic cancer were diagnosed in 1997 in the US. About 28,100 deaths occurred from the disease. Though the pancreatic cancer statistics are frightening, don't forget that statistics are not prophets; they cannot predict what will happen to you in particular. They only provide a guess at what could happen, based on other cases.
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