Because of improvements in early detection and treatment of cancer, two out of three people diagnosed with cancer survive five years or more, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study published in today’s “Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.”
The report found that the most common cancer sites continue to be cancers of the prostate (128 cases per 100,000 men), female breast (122 cases per 100,000 women), lung and bronchus (61 cases per 100,000 persons), and colon and rectum (40 cases per 100,000 persons).
Among these common cancer sites, 5-year relative survival was 97 percent for prostate cancer, 88 percent for breast cancer, 63 percent for colorectal cancer, and 18 percent for lung cancer.
The cancer survivor estimates are from CDC’s National Program of Cancer Registries. CDC scientists reviewed the most recent data on cases of invasive cancers reported during 2011. With the exception of urinary bladder cancer, invasive cancer is defined as cancer that has spread to surrounding normal tissue from where it began.
The full report, “Invasive Cancer Incidence and Survival – United States, 2011,” can be found here.
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