Much awareness has been given to breast cancer, and many people in Alabama either have a loved one or knows someone who suffers from this disease. However, a recent study shows that breast cancer need not be the death knell it once was.
According to a recently published study, the number of women living in the United States who have advanced breast cancer is growing. The study examined the survival rate from 1992 and 1994 and 2005 of women with advanced breast cancer who were less than 50 years old, and found that the five-year survival rate rose from 18 percent to 36 percent. For women between 50-years-old and 64-years-old, the survival rate rose from 19 months to nearly 30 months.
The study claims that part of this uptick in survival rates can be attributed to better medications and therapies. For example, it used to be the case that a woman with metastatic breast cancer would not survive. However, despite the fact that there is no cure for metastatic breast cancer, those who have it can receive treatments that allow them to live for several more years while in reasonable comfort.
While it is good news that women with breast cancer are living longer, that doesn’t change the fact that for some of them the disease will prevent them from doing certain activities while they undergo treatment and during the recovery process, including working. For these individuals, Social Security disability benefits are the financial lifeline they may need to make ends meet. Those who want to learn whether they are a candidate for Social Security disability benefits for illness may want to seek the advice of an attorney.
Source: The Washington Post, “Women with advanced breast cancer are surviving longer, study says,” Laurie McGinley, May 18, 2017