Survival rates for most deadly cancers making little progress, experts warn
Cancer survival has improved dramatically over the last 50 years, but experts warn that progress has been uneven, leaving some of the deadliest cancers even further behind.
For all cancers combined, half of all patients in England and Wales will now live for at least a decade after their diagnosis, up from just one in four in the early 1970s. For some, like melanoma skin cancer, 10-year survival is now over 90%.
However, a report from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine shows there has been little change for cancers of the oesophagus, stomach, and lungs. Less than 5% of people with pancreatic cancer survive for ten years. The government has said it is committed to making more progress in a new plan, which is expected to be announced shortly.
A Widening Survival Gap 🎗️
Researchers said that advances in medicine and earlier detection were responsible for the improved survival rates for many cancers. Breast cancer is a classic example, with 10-year survival rates rising from 42% to over 76% between 1971 and 2018. This period saw the introduction of the NHS breast screening programme and the development of targeted therapies.
In contrast, the cancers with the lowest survival rates tend to be harder to detect and have fewer treatment options. These include pancreatic, stomach, and lung cancers, all of which have 10-year survival rates below 20%, with very little improvement since the 1970s. This has led to a drastic widening of the gap between the cancers with the best and worst survival rates.
‘Amazing Job’
Matt Black knows first-hand how the type of cancer you get can make a huge difference. His father-in-law died of oesophageal cancer 20 years ago. Five years ago, Matt himself was diagnosed with bowel cancer—which has much higher survival rates—after suffering from gastrointestinal problems. He had surgery and was given the all-clear shortly afterwards.
“NHS employees do an amazing job, but being a cancer patient is incredibly tough, particularly for those with cancers that are harder to detect and treat,” Matt says. “It's so critical that there is more research and funding for these harder-to-treat cancers, so that more people can be as fortunate as me.”
Researchers also warned that although overall survival is still improving, the rate of progress slowed during the 2010s. Longer waits for diagnosis and treatment are thought to be partly to blame.
Government Pledges Action
“Most patients today are much more likely to survive cancer than at any other time in history,” said Michelle Mitchell, chief executive of Cancer Research UK, which funded the study. “But the truth is that this progress is slowing, and for some cancers, it never really got started.”
The charity says the government's new plan must focus on these less survivable cancers.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said cancer care was a top priority and that strides were already being made to reduce waiting times. "The national cancer strategy will specify how we can raise survival rates and address the unacceptable disparity between various cancer types," they explained.
