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I'd consider myself a Steve Jobs hater (and I think his treatment choices were bad) but the five-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer is in the 10-15% range

I'd consider myself a Steve Jobs hater (and I think his treatment choices were bad) but the five-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer is in the 10-15% range. "Probably", he'd not be around today. Even with his money, it'd be improbable.

mikeyouse 1y ago
He had a much more treatable and slowly growing variety of pancreatic cancer - it was a neuroendocrine cancer in his pancreas (an islet cell tumor). The 5-yr survival rate for stage 1/2 is something like 95%, and even stage 4 is still around a 25%. The more common and deadly pancreatic cancer you’re thinking of has a 5yr survival rate of under 15% and under 3% if it’s advanced to stage 4. If he had received real care immediately after diagnosis, he’d almost certainly be alive and cancer free today.
- rkomorn 1y ago
  I stand corrected! Not moving goalposts, but on another note: He refused regular treatment for 9 months, for an allegedly slow-growing type of cancer? That still doesn't sound that crazy, especially given he lived another 8 years.
  - mikeyouse 1y ago
    Right - but he only lived 8 more years because by the time he’d had surgery, the cancer had metastasized to his liver which is much more difficult to treat. Per this paper, with surgery and treatment, a 50yr old man diagnosed with grades 1/2, stage 1 pnet tumor, has a median additional lifespan of 23 years. You can do the regression yourself for all of his characteristics but there’s no reason as one of the wealthiest people on earth that he couldn’t have lived to old-age. https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinre.2018.08.005 https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinre.2018.08.... Think of cancer like trying to stop an exponential growth curve. Waiting months for treatment can mean billions or trillions of additional cancer cells you need to clear. And instead of being able to carve them out of one location, they’re now all over your body requiring systematic poisoning.
    - rkomorn 1y ago
      All good points. :) I can't stand more corrected than I already do, yet here I am!

mikeyouse 1y ago

He had a much more treatable and slowly growing variety of pancreatic cancer - it was a neuroendocrine cancer in his pancreas (an islet cell tumor). The 5-yr survival rate for stage 1/2 is something like 95%, and even stage 4 is still around a 25%. The more common and deadly pancreatic cancer you’re thinking of has a 5yr survival rate of under 15% and under 3% if it’s advanced to stage 4. If he had received real care immediately after diagnosis, he’d almost certainly be alive and cancer free today.

rkomorn 1y ago
I stand corrected! Not moving goalposts, but on another note: He refused regular treatment for 9 months, for an allegedly slow-growing type of cancer? That still doesn't sound that crazy, especially given he lived another 8 years.
- mikeyouse 1y ago
  Right - but he only lived 8 more years because by the time he’d had surgery, the cancer had metastasized to his liver which is much more difficult to treat. Per this paper, with surgery and treatment, a 50yr old man diagnosed with grades 1/2, stage 1 pnet tumor, has a median additional lifespan of 23 years. You can do the regression yourself for all of his characteristics but there’s no reason as one of the wealthiest people on earth that he couldn’t have lived to old-age. https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinre.2018.08.005 https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinre.2018.08.... Think of cancer like trying to stop an exponential growth curve. Waiting months for treatment can mean billions or trillions of additional cancer cells you need to clear. And instead of being able to carve them out of one location, they’re now all over your body requiring systematic poisoning.
  - rkomorn 1y ago
    All good points. :) I can't stand more corrected than I already do, yet here I am!