Cancer Survival in England, cancers diagnosed 2015 to 2019, followed up to 2020

Estimates for 1-year and 5-year survival have been calculated for all 21 Cancer Alliances (CAs). Cancer sites are included if 1-year age-standardised survival estimates are available for at least 75% of CAs for either males or females. Estimates for persons are presented if estimates are included for both males and females.

Notes:

1. Survival estimates were age-standardised using a standard set of age-specific weights provided by the International Cancer Survival Standard (ICSS).
2. Survival estimates presented are for all persons except for:
   a) cervix, ovary, uterus and vulva for females only and prostate for males only;
   b) larynx cancer is presented only for males because robust estimates were not obtained for 75% of CAs for females;
   c) breast cancer is presented only for females because robust estimates were not obtained for 75% of CAs for males.
3. The International Classification of Diseases 10th Revision (ICD-10) was used to classify cancer sites.

Across all CAs, the site-specific variation in 1-year survival estimates affecting all persons are most narrow for melanoma, with a range of 1.5 percentage points between the lowest (97.3% for North East London CA) and the highest (98.8% for Northern CA). The largest range in 1-year survival estimates is for brain cancer in persons, with a range of 12.2 percentage points between the lowest (37.2% for East of England - North CA) and highest (49.4% for North Central London CA).

Notes:

1. Survival estimates were age-standardised using a standard set of age-specific weights.
2. Survival estimates presented are for males and females except for:
   a) cervix, ovary, uterus and vulva for females only and prostate for males only;
   b) larynx cancer is presented only for males because robust estimates were not obtained for 75% of CAs for females;
   c) breast cancer is presented only for females because robust estimates were not obtained for 75% of CAs for males.
3. The International Classification of Diseases 10th Revision (ICD-10) was used to classify cancer sites.

As shown in Figure 7, cancer of the pancreas had the lowest 1-year survival in all CAs. Cancer survival for each CA in males is typically lower than survival in females, most noticeably in lung cancer. Only for bladder cancer was survival for each CA in females lower than in males, reflecting the national cancer survival estimates.

For 5-year survival, robust age-standardised estimates could not be obtained for most cancer sites and most CAs. It was only possible to provide age-standardised estimates for all CAs in breast cancer (females).

For each CA, trends in 1-year non-standardised net survival for 13 cancer sites/groups (persons, except breast, cervix and uterus for females and prostate for males) were produced (total 273 trend estimates). 1-year non-standardised net survival has improved for 167 cancer groups/CA combinations, with patients diagnosed between 2015 and 2019 having a higher 1-year survival than patients diagnosed between 2006 and 2010. Over the same period, 1-year non-standardised net survival decreased significantly for 17 cancer groups/CA combinations and did not change for 89 cancer groups/CA combinations. The increasing trends were evenly spread between the 21 CAs and most cancer sites/groups. Of the 17 decreasing trends, 9 were for bladder cancer, broadly reflecting the national findings on cancer survival.

Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships (STPs) are partnerships between NHS organisations and local councils to improve health and care in practical ways. STPs are the smallest geographical areas in this publication and so fewer age-standardised estimates can be presented. There is more volatility and uncertainty in their estimates because of the smaller populations.

As shown in Figure 8, the range in 1-year survival estimates across STPs was largest for cervical cancer (females only), kidney cancer and leukaemia and smallest for melanoma, prostate cancer (males only) and breast cancer (females only).

Across STPs, the site-specific variation in 1-year survival estimates varies from 2.5 percentage points for melanoma (persons) to 18.4 percentage points for ovary cancer (females).

Notes:

1. This chart uses age-standardised survival estimates; individual STPs were not included in this chart if robust age-standardised estimates were not available.
2. Survival estimates were age-standardised using a standard set of age-specific weights.
3. Survival estimates presented are for all persons except for:
   a) cervix, ovary, uterus and vulva for females and prostate for males;
   b) larynx which is presented only for males because robust estimates were not obtained for 75% of CAs for females;
   c) breast which is presented only for females because robust estimates were not obtained for 75% of CAs for males.
4. The International Classification of Diseases 10th Revision (ICD-10) was used to classify cancer sites.
5. A combination of site and gender is presented for all geographies if age-standardised 1-year survival estimates can be produced for at least 75% of STPs.

For each STP, trends in 1-year non-standardised net survival for 13 cancer sites/groups (persons, except breast, cervix and uterus for females and prostate for males) were produced (total 546 trend estimates). 1-year non-standardised net survival has improved for 286 cancer groups/STP combinations, with patients diagnosed between 2015 and 2019 having a higher 1-year survival than patients diagnosed between 2006 and 2010. Over the same period, 1-year non-standardised net survival decreased significantly for 29 cancer groups/STP combinations and did not change for 232 cancer groups/STP combinations. The increasing trends were evenly spread between the 42 STPs and most cancer sites/groups. Of the 29 decreasing trends, 12 were for bladder cancer, broadly reflecting the national findings on cancer survival.

Estimates of 5-year survival for STPs are provided in the data tables where they are deemed to be robust. However, a full comparison of these estimates is not reported due to the suppression of many estimates.

England has 7 NHS Regions (North East and Yorkshire, North West, Midlands, East of England, London, South East, South West).

NHS Regions have a smaller variation in survival estimates relative to CAs and STPs due to having larger populations. With the site specific 1-year survival varying from 1.1 percentage points for melanoma to 8.2 for brain.

Notes:

1. This chart uses age-standardised survival estimates; individual NHS Regions were not included in this chart if robust age-standardised estimates were not available.
2. Survival estimates were age-standardised using a standard set of age-specific weights.
3. Survival estimates presented are for all persons except for:
   a) cervix, ovary, uterus and vulva for females and prostate for males;
   b) larynx which is presented only for males because robust estimates were not obtained for 75% of CAs for females;
   c) breast which is presented only for females because robust estimates were not obtained for 75% of CAs for males.
4. The International Classification of Diseases 10th Revision (ICD-10) was used to classify cancer sites.

For all survival times, London tends to have the highest results (approximate 10 out of 21 sites). Whereas, for all survival times Midlands tends to have the lowest results (approximately 7 out of 21 sites)

For each NHS Region, trends in 1-year non-standardised net survival for 13 cancer sites/groups (persons, except breast, cervix and uterus for females and prostate for males) were produced (total 91 trend estimates). 1-year non-standardised net survival has improved for 68 cancer groups/NHS Region combinations, with patients diagnosed between 2015 and 2019 having a higher 1-year survival than patients diagnosed between 2006 and 2010. Over the same period, 1-year non-standardised net survival decreased significantly for 7 cancer groups/NHS Region combinations and did not change for 16 cancer groups/NHS Region combinations. The increasing trends were evenly spread between the 7 NHS Regions and most cancer sites/groups. Of the 7 decreasing trends, 4 were for bladder cancer, broadly reflecting the national findings on cancer survival.