The difference in survival rates between different types of cancer is bigger than ever while overall improvements have slowed, a study reveals.
The proportion of UK patients surviving ten years or more ranges from 97 per cent for testicular cancer to just 4.3 per cent for pancreatic cancer.
Survival for all cancers combined has increased dramatically since the 1970s but the gains were almost three-times faster in the early 2000s than the early 2010s.
For a patient diagnosed in 2018, the likelihood of surviving cancer for at least a decade stands at 49.8 per cent compared to 23.7 per cent in the 1970s, researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine found.
Remarkably, the one year rate in 1971 was not even as high as the ten year rate in 2018.
Breast, bowel and cervical cancer are among the cancer types which have seen large improvements in survival – partly due to effective screening programmes which can diagnose the disease at an earlier stage, when it is easier to treat.
Innovations in treatment and improved awareness of symptoms have also contributed to better outcomes for many cancers, Cancer Research UK said.
However, ‘remarkable progress’ for some cancer types has left others ‘trailing behind’, as survival for the most lethal cancers has hardly improved at all.
Oesophagus, stomach, lung and brain cancer survival has only increased by a small amount in the past 50 years and remains below 20 per cent.
Meanwhile, for pancreatic cancer, survival after ten years is still less than 5 per cent, according to findings published in The Lancet Regional Health – Europe.
These forms of cancer are harder to detect and treat, which is why targeted research in this area is vital, experts say.
Pressures on cancer services in the UK, resulting in longer waits for diagnosis and treatment, could be contributing to the overall slow-down in progress, they add.
Researchers analysed long-term trends in cancer survival for adults across England and Wales from 1971 to 2018.
Using records from the National Disease Registration Service for England and the Welsh Cancer Intelligence and Surveillance Unit, experts estimated net survival for up to 10 years after diagnosis for around 10.8 million people.
In the five years from 2000/01 to 2005/06, the 10-year cancer survival index – an indicator of overall survival across all types of the disease- rose by 4 per cent, from 41.2 per cent to 45.2 per cent.
But between 2010/11 and 2015/16, the rise was 1.4 per cent, from 47.9 per cent to 49.3 per cent.
Researchers say a national cancer plan is ‘essential’ to ‘bring cancer survival trends back towards the best in the world’.
The Government launched a call for evidence to help shape a national cancer plan in February.
The blueprint aims to outline actions to transform how the disease is treated in a bid to reduce deaths.
Michel Coleman, a professor of epidemiology and statistics at LSHTM, said: ‘Since I began my career in cancer research, I’ve seen substantial increases in survival for most types of cancer.
‘Our understanding of cancer biology has expanded, effective screening programmes have been introduced, and new treatments have been developed.
‘Allowing this trend to stall will have devastating consequences.
‘The National Cancer Plan is a chance to improve NHS cancer pathways and reap the benefits of new research – the Government must take it.’
Michelle Mitchell, chief executive of Cancer Research UK, which funded the study, said: ‘Thanks to research, most patients today are far more likely to survive their cancer than at any point in the past.
‘But the reality is that this progress is slowing – and for some cancers, it never got going in the first place.
‘The upcoming National Cancer Plan for England must include commitments to spot more cancers earlier, as well as backing research into new treatments so that each patient, regardless of their diagnosis, can hope for more moments with the people they love.’
Cancer Research UK is calling for the national cancer plan to slash waiting times for diagnosis and treatment, saying some patients face unacceptable delays.
The plan should also improve early diagnosis of cancer, with plans to boost participation in existing screening programmes and a commitment to rolling out lung cancer screening fully in England by 2029.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: ‘We are prioritising cancer care as we turn around more than a decade of neglect of our NHS.
‘We’re already seeing progress, with 95,000 more people having cancer diagnosed or ruled out within 28 days between July 2024 and May 2025, compared to the same period the previous year.
‘The National Cancer Plan will set out how we will improve survival rates further and address the variation between different cancer types.’
