Breast cancer is one of the major cancer diseases in the world. It affects a lot of women, but men are also diagnosed with breast cancer every year. This disease occurs when the breast cells start to change and grow uncontrollably. If breast cancer forms masses and spreads to other parts of the body, then proper treatment is required. In this blog, we will discuss how long you can survive breast cancer without treatment and the factors that affect the survival rate of breast cancer patients.
If a person is diagnosed with this cancer, they are thinking about how long they can survive without the treatment. Survival of a breast cancer patient without treatment depends on many factors, like the growth of cancerous cells and the overall growth of the patient.
What is Breast Cancer?
It is a type of cancer that starts in the breast cells. It occurs when a cell in the breast starts changing and grows uncontrollably. Now, these unnecessary cells begin to form lumps or masses that are called tumors.
Whether these tumors are deadly or not depends on the spread and size of the cancer. If the cancer does not spread to other tissues or nodes. Then it does not cause any major problems related to health, and treatment is not required for the patient. But if cells spread to other organs of the body, then it is deadly and requires proper treatment.
Why is Treatment Crucial for Breast Cancer Patients?
Some patients do not want to take a treatment for various reasons, such as side effects or trying different approaches for treatment. In most cases, the median survival rate is around 2.3 to 2.7 years, and only 18.4% can survive up to 5 years with untreated breast cancer. While some historical data show reports that some people can survive longer without breast cancer treatment, but quality of life becomes lower after living with the tumor. So it is very important to choose a breast cancer treatment to reduce health complications and increase the survival rate. Treatment mainly helps to remove the cancerous cells and prevent it chance from spreading and recurring.
What Affects the Survival of Breast Cancer Patients Without Treatment?
Various factors affect the survival rate of an untreated breast cancer patient. Some of them are listed below:
Stage of Cancer
Cancer stage is one of the most important factors that affects the survival rate of patients. Early stages of cancer grow slowly and do not spread to other body parts, so their effect on a person’s health is very minimal. An advanced stage of cancer spreads and affects the overall health of the person. That’s the reason a person with the early stage of cancer can survive longer than a person who is diagnosed at a later stage.
Type of Breast Cancer
The survival rate of a patient mostly depends on the type of tumor. Molecular subtypes of breast cancer behave distinctly in the person’s body. HERP2-positive breast cancer commonly shows a very slow growth and spread compared to the Triple-Negative Breast Cancer, which is a more aggressive spread and gives much less time to survive.
Grade and Size of Cancer
A small and low-quality cancer generally takes a long time to grow and spread to other lymph nodes and the blood. So its have low complications on the body and gives more time to survive. While a large and advanced quality tumor at an early stage can aggressively affect the patient’s body, and provides less time to survive.
In Situ and Metastasis
Non-invasive breast cancer does not spread to other parts of the tissues and lymph nodes. It can be left untreated with regular checkups and has a high survival rate. While metastasis, breast cancer can spread to other vital organs of your body and cause organ failure. Living longer with metastasis without treatment is quite difficult.
Unwellness
When cancer spreads to other important parts of the body, it starts affecting your brain and liver, and disturbs the functioning of the organs. This causes several secondary effects on the body, like headache and difficulty in breathing. These complications make your life complex and life-threatening. Consulting a doctor can save a life and improve your health condition.
Immune System
A person with a higher immune system can fight off breast cancer at an early stage and have a higher chance of surviving without treatment.
Age and Overall Health
A younger person with good overall health can better fight breast cancer and survive longer without treatment. Whereas an older person has less chance of surviving with untreated cancer.
What are the Risks of Untreated Breast Cancer?
An Untreated breast cancer can make your condition worsen and can cause a life-threatening condition. Some of the major risks of untreated breast cancer are:
Pain
Living without the treatment of cancer can cause highly intense pain in affected parts of the body. When cancer spreads, pain occurs in other sensitive parts of the body, which is difficult to tolerate. If pain is not tolerable, then consulting a doctor is a better choice for the patients. Without treatment, this causes discomfort and can affect your daily activities.
Failure of the Organ
When cancer spreads then it affects the proper functioning of various important parts of the body. Heart, lungs, liver, and kidneys are starting to fail and leading a life-threatening situations. Secondary causes, like organ failure, become the cause of death in the untreated breast cancer.
Tiredness and Weight Loss
Without taking the proper treatment, your body fights alone against breast cancer without any life-saving medicines and support. Due to this overall health of the body is reduced, and it starts showing the symptoms of fatigue and sudden weight loss. As cancer spreads, your energy levels start declining and making it difficult to do daily activities. This shows a sign that everything is not good in the internal parts of the body, and untreated cancer worsens after progression. So it is always recommended by doctors to take proper management and treatment of such deadly diseases.
Can You Survive Breast Cancer Without Treatment Options?
A simple answer is not available for this question. It depends on many factors, like stage, age, type of cancer, and overall health of the patient. But overall health is the major factor in the survival rate. Some historical data also shows that a person with an early stage of cancer is not able to survive even a month. On the other hand, an advanced-stage cancer patient can even survive for a long period without any medical treatment. But an untreated breast cancer becomes worse after progressing and can be life-threatening and fatal.
A study analyzes the historical survival data of an untreated breast cancer patient. According to data median survival time for the untreated patients is 2.7 years. Whereas the actuarial 5 and 10-year survival rates of these patients are 18.4% and 3.7% respectively. However, this data also shows that patients can survive breast cancer without treatment in some exceptional cases. This survey suggests that without treatment, patients have a very low survival rate. Proper treatment is required to improve the survival rate.
Why is Early Detection Crucial for Breast Cancer Treatment?
Early Detection of cancer gives a chance to take more manageable treatment options, such as therapy with a higher chance of preventing the spread and growth of the cancerous cells. Early detection of breast cancer gives various advantages, such as a high success rate and fewer complications. Treatment at the state phase of the cancer can improve your quality of life and prevent health complications by reducing the physical and psychological burden. So this is necessary to recognise the proper symptoms of breast cancer and consult a doctor for its treatment.
Management and Treatment of Breast Cancer
There are various methods available for the treatment of breast cancer, such as surgery, therapies, and palliative care. It is recommended to consult a doctor about your symptoms. After doing the proper diagnosis and test doctor decides which treatment is best for you.
Treatment options available for breast cancer are:
Surgery
In this procedure doctor removes the cancerous cells and some nearby infected lymph nodes from your affected parts. Surgical operations used to treat breast cancer are:
- Lumpectomy: In this surgical process doctor removes the cancerous cells of the breast and some nearby tissues around it. Lumpectomy is mainly used to treat small cancers. For the later stage cancer doctor used chemotherapy to shrink the cancer so lumpectomy is possible.
- Mastectomy: In a mastectomy, the doctor removes all the affected part of the cancer, including skin, to remove the cancer. This procedure is mainly used when cancer is diagnosed at a later stage.
Therapy
Various therapies are used by doctors to shrink advanced cancer or remove the early-stage cancer. Therapies used to treat breast cancer are:
- Radiation Therapy: In this process, powerful radiation beams are used to remove the cancerous cells. In this therapy, a machine with high-strength beams is pointed towards the cancerous cells. These beams destroy the unwanted cells. Radiation therapy is mainly used after surgery to remove the remaining cancerous cells from the body.
- Chemotherapy: In this, doctors mainly use strong drugs for the treatment of cancer. The main work of chemotherapy is to remove the unwanted cells after surgery, as well as to shrink them. These medicines are mainly given through the veins.
- Hormonal Therapy: In this therapy, doctors use medicine to prevent certain hormones that are sensitive to cancer cells. By blocking these hormones, nutrients that go to unwanted cells are stopped, and these cells begin to die.
- Immunotherapy: In this therapy doctor uses certain medicines to boost the immune system. After immunotherapy, the immune system becomes active and removes the unwanted cells that are not required in the body.
- Targeted Drug Therapy: This therapy targets a certain chemical in the body that provides nutrients and growth to cancerous cells. Blocking these chemicals causes cancerous cells to shrink and die.
Conclusion
Choosing whether or not to treat the breast cancer is the patient’s decision. While a breast cancer patient survives without the treatment, but survival rate is very less for the majority of people. Survival rates also depend on many factors, like type, size, and overall health of the patient. Untreated cancer also has various health complications and a psychological burden. So it is necessary to take proper management and treatment at the right time. Various treatment options are available to cure and prevent the recurrence of this disease. This is all about this blog, and I hope you have gained some informative content from it. So, take care for now, and we will meet you in our next informative blogs.