A leading UK cancer charity released new figures today that show that people diagnosed with breast, bowel and ovarian cancers, and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, are today twice as likely to survive at least 10 years after diagnosis than people diagnosed in the early 1970s.
Cancer Research UK analyzed survival trends for common cancers in England and Wales covering the last 40 years.
The head of their cancer survival group, Dr Michel Coleman, who is Professor of Epidemiology and Vital Statistics at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, told the press that:
“These big increases in long-term survival since the 1970s reflect real progress in cancer diagnosis and treatment, and they confirm the immense value of having a National Cancer Registry that holds simple information about all cancer patients diagnosed during the last 30 – 40 years.”
He stressed that ten-year survival figures for patients diagnosed in 2007 can only be predictions, but they come from being able to analyze the latest national data on cancer patient survival, and, he added:
“For most cancers, the true 10-year survival for these patients will turn out to be higher than we report.”
The new figures show that today, 77 per cent of women diagnosed with breast cancer are likely to live for at least another 10 years compared with less than 40 per cent in the 1970s; for bowel cancer the figure has gone up from 23 per cent to 50 per cent, and for ovarian cancer it has risen from 18 to 35 per cent.
Also, 51 per cent of patients diagnosed today with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma are likely to live at least another 10 years compared to 22 per cent nearly 40 years ago; and the 10-year survival rate for Hodgkin’s lymphoma is predicted to go up from under 50 to about 80 per cent.
For other cancers, there have also been some dramatic changes in 10-year survival rates.
Patients diagnosed with leukemia today are four times as likely to survive for 10 years compared to their counterparts in the 1970s, and while survival rates for oesophageal cancer and myeloma (a type of bone marrow cancer) are still low and under 20 per cent, it appears they are predicted to have trebled in the same period.
Cancer Research UK is also launching an advertising campaign on national television to put across the message that while this is good news, we still need to improve awareness and raise more money, because there is still a lot to do.
The charity’s chief clinician, Prof Peter Johnson, told the press that faster diagnosis, improved surgery, and better radiotherapy and new drugs are the main reasons for the success, helped knowledge gained from research by the charity:
“We expect this trend to continue, hastened by Cancer Research UK’s investment in research in all these areas,” he added.
In a statement, the charity said the advent of personalized treatment is helping breast cancer patients live longer, and improved surgical techniques are also benefitting bowel cancer patients.
Patients with certain types of leukaemia and lymphoma live longer because of targeted chemotherapy drugs like imatinib (Glivec) and rituximab (Mabthera), while generally better support and care for patients undergoing chemotherapy has also helped improve survival, they said.
Harpal Kumar, chief executive of Cancer Research UK acknowledged the hard work and dedication of the charity’s supporters, doctors and scientists, and said it was because of them that we are seeing these encouraging improvements in the long term survival of many cancer patients.
“But we have to do better,” urged Kumar, “We need to develop even more effective treatments that can prolong life further and we need to ensure that each individual patient has optimal treatment”.
He said research is expensive, and because the charity relies completely on donations from the public, the vital work that is needed to continue the fight against cancer can only continue with people’s generous support.
The following table shows the 10-year relative survival (as a percentage) for people aged from 15 to 99 years diagnosed with cancer in 1971-72, and predicted survival for people diagnosed in 2007.
| 1971-72 | 2007 | |
| All cancers | 23.7 | 45.2 |
| Bladder | 34.6 | 48.9 |
| Bowel: colon | 22.6 | 50.4 |
| Bowel: rectum | 23.9 | 49.3 |
| Brain | 5.7 | 9.4 |
| Breast (women) | 38.9 | 77.0 |
| Cervix | 48.4 | 63.0 |
| Hodgkin’s lymphoma | 49.0 | 77.9 |
| Kidney | 22.2 | 43.5 |
| Larynx (males) | 50.5 | 59.6 |
| Leukemia | 8.1 | 33.2 |
| Lung | 3.2 | 5.3 |
| Melanoma | 49.3 | 83.2 |
| Myeloma | 5.3 | 17.1 |
| Non-Hodgkin lymphoma | 21.8 | 50.8 |
| Oesophagus | 3.6 | 10.0 |
| Ovary | 18.0 | 35.4 |
| Pancreas | 1.9 | 2.8 |
| Prostate | 20.4 | 68.5 |
| Stomach | 4.6 | 13.5 |
| Testis | 67.4 | 96.5 |
| Uterus | 55.2 | 74.5 |
| Other cancers (3 others) | 34.0 | 36.3 |
| From Cancer Research UK, 12 July 2010 |
The figures are for relative survival, and should be interpreted as survival from that particular cancer after adjusting for all other causes of death. They are expressed in this way because an increasing proportion of cancer patients die of other causes.
Claire Daniels, a 24-year old cancer survivor from Leamington Spa, was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma while studying at university; she is now an events organiser at Cancer Research UK. Her cancer returned after her first chemotherapy treatment. She then had further intensive treatment, radiotherapy and then a stem cell transplant.
Daniels, who appears in one of the charity’s TV ads, told the press that:
“I feel very lucky that I was able to have such effective treatment – some of which was shaped by the charity’s researchers – and that’s why I was so pleased to be part of this campaign.”
“Everyone who appears in the TV ad is either a cancer survivor or a cancer doctor; there aren’t any actors so we are all genuinely involved in fighting this disease,” she added.
Source: Cancer Research UK.
Written by: Catharine Paddock, PhD