First official figures reveal how likely you are to be alive 10 years after a cancer diagnosis

September 16, 2016

New figures have been devised by the Office for National Statistics
It predicts the percentage of people expected to be alive after a decade
87.2% of men survive melanoma compared to just 44.8% for leukaemia
Women with cervical cancer is 64.3% and 80.6% for breast cancer

Sophie Borland Health Editor For The Daily Mail

Published:
09:41 EST, 16 September 2016

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Updated:
11:06 EST, 16 September 2016

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Patients’ chances of beating cancer and still being alive in ten years’ time has been calculated by experts for the first time.

They reveal how many men and women diagnosed in 2015 are likely to survive until at least 2025, for some of the commonest types of the illness.

The figures – analysed by the Office for National Statistics – show the highest survival rates are for melanoma, a type of skin cancer.

Up to 87.2 per cent of men and 91.5 per cent of women are likely to still be alive in 2025.

For women with breast cancer, 80.6 per cent should be alive 10 years, according to the estimates (file image)

Rates are also high for breast cancer. with 80.5 per cent of women expected to survive ten years.

The figures also reveal that 79.9 per cent of men with prostate cancer will be alive in 2025.

But survival rates are considerably lower for leukaemia with just 44.8 per cent of men and 44.7 per cent of women are expected to live another ten years.

Dr Rebecca Smittenaar, Cancer Research UK’s statistics manager, said: ‘Cancer survival is improving and has doubled over the last 40 years.

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‘For a number of cancers, including breast and skin cancer, more than eight out of 10 people will survive their disease.

‘Research has led to better treatments, new drugs, more accurate tests, earlier diagnosis and screening programmes – giving patients a better chance of survival.

‘Survival remains low for some cancers, including lung, pancreatic, oesophageal cancer and brain tumours, partly because they tend to be diagnosed at a later stage when they’re much harder to treat.’

Lynda Thomas, chief executive of Macmillan Cancer Support, added: ‘It is great news that these figures today show that – thanks to better treatments and earlier detection – more people are surviving cancer in both the long and short term.

‘For example, more than 8 out of 10 women diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015 are estimated to live for at least a decade.

‘But of course, surviving is not necessarily the same as living well, and too many people with cancer miss out on the support they badly need once treatment has finished.

Women with breast cancer have 80 per cent chance of being alive 10 years after diagnosis.

‘The trauma of a cancer diagnosis and treatment affects every individual differently, with some suffering from depression while others will contend with fatigue and chronic swelling resulting from treatment.’

Separate figures analysed by Macmillan earlier this summer showed that patients with any time of cancer are twice as likely to survive a decade compared to the 1970s.

Around 50 per cent of patients are now expected to be alive for at least a decade compared to just 24 per cent 40 years ago.

But this latest data provides a more reliable indication of the survival rates for the different cancer types.

The dramatic improvements are down to earlier diagnosis and more advanced treatments.

This includes immunotherapy, the breakthrough new drug which teaches the body’s immune system to fight cancer.