Recurrance rate

Hi 

There probably isn't anyone on this forum (no matter what their stage, grade or cancer type)  who doesn't worry about recurrence.  It's good news that your Doctor thinks you are cured and perhaps you should focus on that. Yes, there are statistics about recurrence but these are of more use in suggesting guidelines for our treatments  than in predicting the future of any one patient.  For one reason they are based on historical data  and over the last few years tremendous improvements have been made in treatment. But more importantly they are compiled by studying a large group of people across many countries but we are all individuals and the "average" almost certainly won't apply to any one person. 

When I was told that although my lymph nodes had not been removed they had found cancer cells in the lymph vessels (LVSI) and and advised me to have external and internal RT.  I had never heard of LVSI and made the mistake of looking it up ( I hadn't seen this forum and therefore didn't know  to avoid Google!) and was quite upset to find that it, combined with my age (75) and other things was not good news.  So I did worry a lot about my chances.  That was 5 years ago and I am due to have what I hope will be my last checkup by phone in a couple of weeks time. 

Anyway, the good news is that with every year that goes by you are less likely to have a recurrence and even then most recurrences can be treated successfully hence the importance of post treatment checkups.