Gut cancer survival rate up 40 per cent
Gut cancer survival rates are up 40 per cent, new figures show
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Tuesday, 07, Oct 2008 08:50
Gut cancer patients in England are 40 per cent more likely to survive for at least a year after diagnosis than they were 20 years ago, new figures show.
Health experts maintain that one of main factors behind the increases in survival is the improved early diagnosis.
In the past, stomach and oesophageal cancers have been hard to diagnose as symptoms are often confused with other conditions.
Improvements in treatment have also played a part in the improved survival rates.
The report published by the National Cancer Intelligence Network (NCIN) today, looked at one-year survival for all cancers of over 3.5 million cancer patients recorded by English cancer registries between 1985 and 2004.
While more people have been diagnosed with cancer in England since the 1980s, because of the country's ageing population, there has actually been a fall in the number of deaths.
In the five years in the late 1980s, around 840,000 people were diagnosed with cancer and 56 per cent survived beyond a year after diagnosis. In the five years from 2000, over a million people were diagnosed in a five year period with the disease, but 67 per cent survived beyond a year.
Professor David Forman, from the University of Leeds, said: "Increases in one-year survival rates are a useful signpost – for many types of cancer, they suggest that the disease is being diagnosed at an earlier stage, which is vitally important in treating the disease successfully.
"It's really positive that survival rates for stomach and oesophageal cancer have significantly increased, because they’re cancers that are usually diagnosed very late – too late to cure."
One year survival for stomach cancer increased from 27 per cent in the 80s to 38 per cent in the 00s, while one year survival rates for oesophageal cancer went from 25 to 36 per cent in the same period.
Professor Forman continued: "One-year survival has significantly increased for around 75 per cent of cancers. Most of the rest have shown small improvements but clearly there is more work needed to improve the detection of some cancers."
Sara Hiom, director of health information at Cancer Research UK, added: "Early detection of cancer is vital in ensuring the disease is successfully treated. It's important that people are aware of the signs and symptoms of cancer and they go for screening when invited."