Abstract

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Background
Keywords
Findings
Authors

Background

Survival estimates measured from the time of a cancer diagnosis become less informative after one or two years' survival.  Using records from the Canadian Cancer Registry linked to the Canadian Vital Statistics Death Database, five-year conditional relative survival ratio (RSR) estimates were derived for a large number of cancers.  For each cancer with an initial five-year RSR of at least 80% (except breast cancer), a conditional five-year RSR of 95% or more was achieved after five years' survival.  Among cancers with initial five-year RSRs of 50% to 79%, a five-year conditional RSR of 95% or more was observed for cancers of the cervix uteri and colon after five years.  There was no apparent improvement in survival prospects during the first five years after diagnosis for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).  Despite initial prognoses of less than 50%, a conditional five-year RSR of at least 90% five years after diagnosis was achieved for stomach cancer and leukemia (excluding CLL).

Keywords

neoplasms, population surveillance, prognosis, registries, survival analysis

Findings

Survival statistics are an indicator of the effectiveness of cancer detection and treatment. These statistics are used to compare cancer control over time and across jurisdictions. They are also of interest to clinicians providing direct care and to patients, who usually want an estimate of their prognosis. [Full Text]

Authors

Larry F. Ellison (1-613-951-5244; larry.ellison@statcan.gc.ca) is with the Health Statistics Division at Statistics Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0T6.  Heather Bryant and Gina Lockwood are with the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer, Toronto, Ontario.  Lorraine Shack is with Alberta Health Services and Community Health Science,  University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta.