Cancer survival rate statistics and life expectancies are very misleading and quite inappropriate for several reasons. Certain types of cancer stats, like ovarian cancer for example, are even more absurd than many others.
One problem is they are a glimpse into the rear view mirror. They can not account for all the advances in modern medicine. If you think about it, all of these statistics show the mortality rates of ovarian cancer sufferers in the past. Anyone who died from the disease, did not have access to the most modern treatments of today. Cancer is a field with millions of rich world sufferers. World governments and large health corporations are pouring money into research for political and economic reasons. There is accelerated growth in knowledge.
A second concern is that ovarian cancer is not as common as some other ones. The statistics are less relevant than lung canc er due to the fact that there is less data to start with.
Each cancer is different in nature. Even if the doctor tells you are in stage 4, there is still a lot of difference amongst members in that group. Not all stage 4 people are really the same. It is just a simple way to give you a rough idea of which boat you are in.
Another issue with the stats is that they do not differentiate between people who are in different emotional states. There is some evidence that a positive outlook can add years to a patient's life. Mind/body medicine is becoming even more mainstream in the west. A negative outlook can cause a patient to almost kill themselves because this traumatic diagnoses causes the body to release large amounts of cortisol, a damaging stress hormone.
If you would like to learn out cancer life expectancy in general, check out this free website: Ovarian Cancer Statistics