Ken's surgical oncologist staged his cancer as T2,N2a,MO, which is Stage IV. He then gave us a better than 85 percent statistic for surviving this. I think a lot of the numbers depend on what type of treatment is given, and where, and age and health of the patient has to factor in, too. My husband is 49 and extremely healthy, so his odds would have to be much better than an 85 year old man with heart disease and other health problems. Perhaps that is why your surgeon was so optimistic about Bob's case.