Issels Integrative Oncology - individualized immunotherapy for over 60 years
January 8, 2015

Ilse Marie Issels, wife of Dr. Joseph IsselsDear Friend,

Boosting your body's own ability to fight cancer is one very important element of the Issels Treatment® and the key to the success we have had with our unique long term remission results.

I think the information you'll read in this issue on cancer prognosis will be helpful and interesting. Feel free to share this important information with family, friends, and loved ones.

Best Regards,
Ilse Marie Issels
Ilse Marie Issels
Wife and Collaborator of Dr. Josef Issels, Our Founder

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Three Tips to Understanding your Cancer's Prognosis

Cancer is the giant fear that eventually invades everyone's life if they live long enough.Ilse Marie Issels, wife of Dr. Joseph Issels Still, if caught early and treated accordingly, a prognosis of cancer is not necessarily an untimely death sentence.

Here are the most important things to know about your prognosis once you have definitively been diagnosed with cancer:

It is Fact Based

Though it may mystify the patient to some extent, a doctor's cancer prognosis is thoroughly grounded in his own and his peer's medical experience.

The doctor will look at such things as the type and location of the cancer, its stage – that is, the size and if it has spread to other areas of the body and how much, and the cancer's grade – how abnormal it looks and how likely it is to spread even more, cancer cell traits, your age, your health before the diagnosis, and how you respond to treatment.

It is Mostly Statistics

While Mark Twain facetiously opined that there are "lies, damn lies and statistics," the actual truth is that statistics really do tell you a lot about your prognosis. By analyzing various factors,  such as the specific characteristics of the patient's disease, the available treatment options and any other health issues, against statistics that have been collected over many years about people with the same type of cancer, the doctor will make an educated guess as to what will happen. 

It is Not Completely Certain

While your prognosis is your doctor's "best guess" as to the likely course and outcome of your disease, it is by no means 100% certain. Remaining positive throughout the process is always the best medicine. Understand that everyone is different and how people respond to treatment is highly variable, and that your doctor cannot be absolutely sure how things will go.

As you can see, a prognosis is as much art as it is science and the best doctors combine both when making a prognosis. For more detailed information, please contact us at Issels® or you can reach us directly at 1-888-447-7357.

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