Survival rates are often used by doctors as a standard way of discussing a person's prognosis (outlook). Some patients may want to know the survival statistics for people in similar situations, while others may not find the numbers helpful, or may even not want to know them. Whether or not you want to read about the survival statistics below for gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) is up to you.
It is very hard to get accurate numbers on survival rates for GISTs. Part of this is because these tumors are not common to begin with. In the past, they were often classified as other types of cancers, which made the numbers available for study even smaller. Finally, treatment has changed dramatically in the past few years now that newer, targeted therapy drugs are being used. The survival rates now available are based on people treated 5 or more years ago, before these treatments were around, so people being treated for GISTs today are likely to have a better outlook.
The 5-year survival rate refers to the percentage of patients who live at least 5 years after their cancer is diagnosed. Five-year rates are used to produce a standard way of discussing prognosis. Of course, many people live much longer than 5 years. Five-year relative survival rates, such as the numbers below, assume that some people will die of other causes and compare the observed survival with that expected for people without the cancer. This is a more accurate way to describe the chances of dying from a particular type and stage of cancer.
Based on people treated between 1992 and 2000, the overall relative 5-year survival rate of people diagnosed with a malignant GIST was estimated to be about 45%. If the tumor was confined to the organ where it started, the 5-year relative survival was 64%. If it had grown into nearby tissue, the 5-year relative survival was around 30%. If it had spread to distant sites when it was first diagnosed, the 5-year relative survival was 13%. Again, the numbers for people now being diagnosed with GISTs are likely to be much better.
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