Hi Danielle,
An occult cancer is one where they cannot find the primary or that it is concealed. A recurrence is when cancer reappears and is attributed to the primary.

Statistics are difficult to deal with anyway. The 5 year survival rate from all forms of cancer combined is 62% The 5 year survival rate for oral cancer is about 50%. The 5 year survival rate for pancreatic cancer is 5% I think what Mark meant was a recurrence adds subtracts another 5-10% to the 5 year survival rate. The statistics don't take into consideration health habits, age, sex, race or other variables (like staging). Your mother should have very good survival odds with it being a stage I. I personally have not seen any data on survival rates for recurrence. There are a number of folks here who have had recurrences and are quite alive and well today.

This is why we tell people over and over and over - get to a comprehensive cancer center and get the highest standard of medical care possible. People have died because it was "inconvenient" for them to leave their little town and go to the big city for access to a CCC. Or they just accept what they are given without persuing their own medical advocacy. Some people are comfortable with a 20-30 year old treatment modality.

I spent hundreds of hours searching and seeking out the best treatment, doctors and institutions with proven track records. There still aren't any guarantees.