Metastatic breast cancer is progressive and incurable, but twice as many women today are hitting the benchmark five-year survival rate as were in the early 1990s.

A study published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention compared survival rates for women under 49 with newly diagnosed breast cancer from 1992 to 1994 with those who received the diagnosis from 2005 to 2012. While just 18 percent of the '90s cohort survived for five years, 36 percent of the '00s group survived—although the overall incidence of metastatic breast cancer increased.

This individual study didn’t delve into the specific explanations why, but lead author and statistician with the National Cancer Institute Angela B. Mariotto ascribes it to a combination of earlier screening and better treatment.

Read her New York Times interview by following the link below.