I'm not as sanguine as DavidCPA about a causal effect between statistical studies and medical progress. Doctors are just persons like us with a medical degree and subject to the same human foibles. Take for example all the cardiologists who still insert stents despite all the clinical studies showing no better results than taking inexpensive statins. You'd think a non surgical TX that works as well or better than surgery would be standard, but since that's not what they learned in med school, thousands get unnecessary surgery.
Same thing for prostate cancer. Research is what produces progress, these studies are just attempts at proof of efficacy.

My doctor's were not as direct as EricS' in pointing out that your personal statistics are always Zero or 100%. Instead they would say that maybe I would be in the 30% that did well with my prognosis. Yet I heartily agree with DavidCPA that there is a lot of comfort in statistics that predict a good result for you. Even now, I cling to the "magic" 18 months without another recurrence that has upped my stats.
One thing I think all of us here at OCF would agree on is that we would have preferred to win the Powerball jackpot lottery than the oral cancer lottery. (note deleted statistics on those odds after further research - no confidence in the ones I posted)