Statistics are just that, a whole heap of percentages. There are many things that determine the likelihood of a recurrence, including Grade, size of tumor, spread to lymph nodes as well as type of cancer. Remember any 5 year statistics are at least 5 years old and improvements in treatment will have made a difference in this time. They also include people who may be quite a lot older and/or who have other health issues which may make a difference to survival rates. They include people who refuse conventional treatment and who have lifestyle issues that impact on their long term health.
Statistics are useful in a general way to reassure ourselves that the majority of people do not die of breast cancer. If you have completed the treatment that the experts recommended, have regular checks and look after your general health then you have every reason to feel confident that you will be one of the majority who survive and go onto lead long healthy lives. Once you get past the 5 year mark, people who had TNBC are actually less likely than those with hormone positive cancers, to have a recurrence. Even if you do have a recurrence, most are caught early because of regular checks, and are successfully treated once more. So just look after yourself and enjoy being healthy. Deanne xx
