Question:
You hear about cancer patients survival rates etc but what is the life
expectancy of someone that survived cancer? Has there been studies released
on the effects of chemo \ radiation on the life expectancy?
My brother had 4 tumors (trunk of his body) that required surgeries,
radiation and chemo. This all happened from the time he was 2 to when he
was 11 (now 34). A doctor was telling me that people that go through that
trauma that early in life really get their life expectancy shortened (down
to the 50s and 60 yr range). I talked about this with my brohter and he
says he is most worried about arthritis and stuff like that because he has
one leg that is shorter than the other.
Just curious if there is anyone has knowledge or experience in this area.
Answer:
It depends on the type of cancer. For example my type (AML) has an
overall 5 year survival rate of 14%. I guess I got lucky so far!
Had I not gone through chemo then, of course, the chance was zero. And
they are comming out with new medicine all the time!
