A new website was launched today to help breast cancer patients predict their chances of survival.
The website,
is designed to offer greater accuracy through inputting data such as age, whether the tumour was detected by screening or the patient finding a lump, width of tumour and the grade of cancer.
I have not tried this yet, but it is worth a look.
Thanks
Crystal
I just had a look and the data it turned out was significantly different than that of either adjuvant online or cancermath. Very interesting though. The database used is small (5000) according to the article attached but all UK. Thanks for posting that link.
Tina - was it better or worse?
fintyx
In what way Tina? i did it and didn’t think the difference was very great. Thanks
The percentage gain in my case by chemotherapy was different on adjuvant. I gained 9% on adjuvant and 3% on the predict. This is for the 5 year point. But again, it’s statistics. I suppose it does not calculate the risk of multifocal bc and distinguish between IDC and ILC hence, use with caution and in liaison with your specialist…
Just to echo what Tina45 says, we would suggest discussing this tool with your specialist team - before using it, if it’s something that might cause you anxiety - so you can get an idea about what it means for you as an individual.
If it might raise some emotional issues for you, you can also talk it through with our helpline team (0808 800 6000).
Yhe results it gave me were almost identical to those I was given by my surgeon,the NPI and Adjuvant Online-with chemo giving an additional 7% chance of 10 yr survival.Bearing in mind that I am triple neg and 10 yr chances are around 84% I was quite reassured although…for each of us individually the chances are either 0 or 100 of course and we cannot really ‘predict’ which it will be.
Vx
By the way-stupid question but what exactly is ‘adjuvant’ chemo?
Val adjuvant is chemo after the op and neoadjuvant is chemo prior to the op like I had…
Theresa x
Just had a quick look and it seems to be very basic in the details requested… I tend to use lifemath.net/cancer/breastcancer/therapy/index.php as you can actually input the type of cancer - the difference for my type IBC - inflammatory breast cancer is vast… Mind you I tend to take the figures for IBC with a pinch of salt as many of the chemo drugs, hormone therapies and herceptin etc were not around 10 years ago… so the figures quoted are really statistical guesses…
Theresa x
Don’t like my chances on the nhs one much prefer the Cancermath one!
As someone who has a claim being considered on my critical illness insurance, i’m a bit concerned that insurance companies could use this as yet another means of avoiding a payout. They have all the relevent medical information to use it.
Don’t even want to go there. If I did I would discuss with my Onc as he is direct and I trust him implicitly. Jackie
OMG - I delibrately have n’t checked anything before and did not want the info from my Onc but couldn’t help a peak at it…
does anyone know the difference between 2nd and 3rd Generation chemo (the odds for me differ greatly between the two).
Hi
I think fec is second gen and tax is third gen. I don’t know what you do if you have had both. I might be wrong though. Debx
had 3 FEC and 3 TaX so that might be it (if its true thank god for TAX a difference of around 25%!) I take back all I said about it…
Hi, fec is second generation, taxanes are third. I am never sure if these sites are useful or not??? But of course I have done them all, cancermath, NPI, adjuvant, this one and really all I want is a crystal ball or fortuneteller…
yes I agree about not knowing if they are useful in predicting what is going to happen as nobody knows and we are all different, for me the usefulness is looking at the impact, chemo, rads and hormone have one the expected survival rates and it does actually re inforce the reaon as to why I am going through all this treatment - ie I want to stay alive!!
However I think it does depend on your overall state of mind at the time of looking and to be honest I haven’t felt ‘strong’ enough up to now to even find this info out - although it has been available on a number of sites (as well as via my Onc).
Now I have been brave enough to look I feel ok about it. on the positive side says I have a 60% chance of being alive in 10 years - and I intend to make the most of every moment and my intention is to ‘prove’ the stats wrong!
Hi without sounding to offensive i think most of us are struggling to come to terms with breast cancer without wanting to know life expectant i think your post is in very poor taste i can speak for myself and say i take each day as it will come may get run over by bus tomoz have struggled through chemo not done surgery or rads yet to think that all of this was to kill cancer and give me a new lease of life not to see how much longer i nave left
Most oncologists use adjuvant online as a tool to demonstrate % gained by various treatment options and they are important in that context so decisions can be made by the patients, understanding % and risk and weighing up one’s options, all this comes as part of bc diagnosis. It is up to the individual to decide how much they want to know and when they are ready for the information. The predict tool is based on nearly 5700 women in the East Midlands from 1999-2003, incorporating their treatments and outcomes.