Sharp increase in cancer survival rates, study shows

London: Survival rates for some types of cancer, including breast and colon cancer, have improved dramatically over the last 40 years but there has been a ‘woeful' lack of investment in others, a study has found.

Lung, brain and pancreatic cancers have so far shown hardly any improvement, Macmillan Cancer Support said, adding that patchy progress in some areas meant there was still a ‘survival lottery'.

The analysis of figures for 20 different cancers, based on London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine research, suggests overall median survival times in England and Wales — the time it takes until half those diagnosed have died — have improved from one year for those diagnosed in 1971-72 to 5.8 years for patients diagnosed in 2007.

Macmillan believes the figures may help give patients a better idea of how long they might live rather than using the traditional way of measuring survival beyond milestones — one, five and ten years.

Five types

Six cancers, including colon and breast cancer and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, have median survival times of more than ten years. Colon cancer survival has improved more than 17-fold, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma ten-fold and rectal cancer seven-fold. It has doubled for breast cancer.

Survival has stretched to over five years for another five cancer types but for nine others it remains below three.

The survival times for lung and brain cancer have barely risen, from 11 to 20 weeks and 13 to 28 weeks respectively. Pancreatic cancer survival has increased by just three weeks, from nine to 12. Despite large improvements for leukaemia (ninefold) and myeloma (sixfold), survival times still remain low, with patients diagnosed in 2007 likely to have three and two and a half years respectively. Stomach and oesophagal cancer also have low survival rates.

Ciaran Devane, Macmillan's chief executive, said: "This research is a huge breakthrough in seeing the real picture of how long people are living after a cancer diagnosis.

"But the good news is tempered by the shocking variation between cancer types — it is clear that much, much more money needs to be put into research, surgery and treatment for the cancers with the poorest prognosis.

"While it is wonderful news that more cancer patients are living longer overall, we also know they are not necessarily living well. Cancer treatment is the toughest fight many will ever face. and patients are often left with long-term health and emotional problems long after their treatment has ended."

— Guardian News & Media Ltd