If the patient survives the first five years of TBNC, such recurrences probability drastically falls, eliminating the need for extended post-therapy care programs.
Bear in mind that several conditions are strongly indicative of recurrence. You may have not permanently kissed TBNC goodbye if you have larger tumors, you had lymph modes, or if you had a lumpectomy with no radiation.
How well can you survive TBNC?
TBNC is not the most “diplomatic” of cancers. Unruly, its survival rate within the first five years counts among the lowest in cancer types. This 5-year survival rate differs depending on how far the cancer has metastasized.
For TBNC that has metastasized and spread to neighboring lymph nodes, the patient has a survival rate of 65%. This means that 65 in every 100 patients of TNBC (that has spread) are alive after five years.
For perspective, other breast cancers have enhanced 5-year survival rates at 86%. For TBNC that is yet to spread out of the breast tissue, the 5-year survival rate is 91%. Other breast cancers come at 99%.
This survival rate is not thoroughly definitive. Variations in survival still occur due to each patient’s particular conditions like health and age.
Some of the ascribed survival rates’ limitations can be attributed to doctors basing the survival rates on a 70-month span. The implication is that TBNC patients who recently got their diagnosis are exposed to higher chances of survival.
This is owing to the massive technological gains being recorded in the treatment of triple-negative breast cancer. What more, these 5-year survival rates scarcely consider metastasis, relapses, or even consequent stages of the cancer.
How can you increase your chances of survival?
Your treatment plan’s efficacy clearly determines the chances of you making it through the first five years safely and thereafter.
Admittedly, the treatment options are sparse considering the triple negativity of this cancer type to the said receptors.
Remarkably, the effectiveness of hormone therapies is reduced when adopted for treating TBNC. Due to the aggressive growth of TBNC, doctors commonly resort to chemotherapy.
It is also not uncommon for medical practitioners to resort to surgical procedures like lumpectomy (or mastectomy) in treating triple-negative cancer. Typically a treatment regimen would blend surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation.
Regarding the surgical procedures, the practitioner may remove two or one of the woman’s breasts as typical of mastectomies. Alternatively, the surgeon would incise off breast tissue as seen in lumpectomy.
The choice between these procedures is commonly determined by how early the cancer was diagnosed regarding its development stage. Of course, the earlier the diagnosis, the more robust the patient’s chances of survival.
Conclusively, if you are at amplified risk of developing triple-negative breast cancer, you can do a lot in preventing the occurrence of TBNC. This risk category spans African American women 35 years or younger, genetically predisposed, obese women, those with a family history of breast cancer, or women with benign breast conditions.
Such preventive actions are immensely connected to having healthy lifestyle choices. This involves eliminating smoking and alcoholic habits, exercising, and eating healthily.