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BMJ No 7119 Volume 315 Letters Saturday 22 November 1997 New method for expressing survival in cancer New method would be more meaningful to patients than 10 year survival rates Editor Jayant S Vaidya and Indraneel Mittra have proposed a novel method of expressing survival.(1) This fundamental change in perspective would be tremendously valuable when doctors discuss survival with patients. The expression of survival in terms of fraction of normal remaining life span looks at survival from the patients' perspective; it can easily be adjusted to take into account the age at diagnosis and national variations in life expectancy. It was just this information I sought two and a half years ago when, at the age of 33, I was diagnosed as having breast cancer. Ten year survival figures have their uses, but for me this meant my chance of surviving to my husband's age. The questions I was asking at that time were, 'What is my normal chance of surviving 10 years?' and 'What is the expectancy of me surviving to the age of my parents or grandparents?' - in other words, 'What effect is my diagnosis going to have on my normal life expectancy?' The expression of survival in terms of the fraction of normal remaining life span would have gone a long way to answering my questions in terms that were far more meaningful to me than the traditional 10 year survival rates. Jayne Harrison Research senior registrar Liverpool University Dental Hospital, Liverpool L3 5PS Reference 1 Vaidya J S, Mittra I. Fraction of normal remaining life span: a new method for expressing survival in cancer. BMJ 1997; 314:1682-4. (7 June.) Home | Current issue | Past issues | Classified ads | Career Focus | Feedback Collections | About this site | About the BMJ | BMA | Medline