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Bowel Cancer survival statistics

There have been similar and significant improvements in survival for both colon and rectal cancer over the last 25 years.1 This page presents bowel cancer survival statistics including one and five year survival, by age at diagnosis, and by stage.

Bowel cancer - one and five year survival rates

The five-year relative survival rates for both male and female colon and rectal cancer have doubled between the early 1970s and the late 1990s.2-4 In the early 1970s, five-year relative survival for male colon cancer was 22% (23% for women) and this rose to 47% (48% for women) in the late 1990s. Over the same time period, the five-year survival rates for male rectal cancer rose from 25% to 47% and from 27% to 51% for female rectal cancer. These improvements are a result of earlier diagnosis and better treatment but there is still much scope for further progress.

The rise in one and five-year age-standardised relative survival rates for colon cancer are shown in Figure 3.1.1

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Ten-year survival rates are only a little lower than those at five-years indicating that most patients who survive for five years are cured from this disease.4

Bowel cancer - survival rates by age at diagnosis

Younger patients have a better prognosis than older patients as the rates in Figure 3.2 show. 1

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Bowel cancer - survival rates by stage at diagnosis

Patients who are diagnosed at an early stage have a much better prognosis than those who present with more extensive disease (Table 3.1).5

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There is also an advantage of between 5% and 9% in five-year relative survival for the most affluent patients compared with the most deprived groups.1 If this deprivation difference was removed so that all groups had the highest survival, then over 2,000 deaths would be avoided in the five years following diagnosis.6

Comparison of bowel cancer survival rates across Europe shows significant inter-country differences. 7 It has been suggested that the poorer survival in the UK compared with the rest of western Europe relates to late presentation or delay in treatment,8 but caution needs to be exercised in interpreting these variations.9 However, the existence of differences in survival over time and place suggest that there are ways in which the prognosis could be improved in countries such as the UK.

References

1. Coleman, M., et al., Trends in socioeconomic inequalities in cancer survival in England and Wales up to 2001 in BJC, 2004.
2. Coleman, M., P. Babb, and P. Damiecki, Cancer Survival Trends in England and Wales, 1971-1995: Deprivation and NHS Region. Vol. 1999: TSO.
3. Coleman, M., P. Babb, and V. Harris, Cancer Survival in England and Wales, 1971-1995 in Health Statistics Quarterly 06 2000, Office for National Statistics.
4. Cancer Research UK, CancerStats: Survival - England and Wales, 2004.
5. Campbell, N., et al., Rural and urban differences in stage at diagnosis of colorectal and lung cancers. Br J Cancer, 2001. 84(7): p. 910-914
6. Coleman, M., P. Babb, and P. Damiecki, Cancer Survival Trends in England and Wales, 1971-1995: Deprivation and NHS Region. Vol. 1999: TSO.
7. Gatta, G., et al., Survival of colorectal cancer patients in Europe during the period 1978-1989. Eur J Cancer, 1998. 34(14): p. 2176-2183.
8. Monnet, E., et al., Influence of stage at diagnosis on survival differences for rectal cancer in three European populations. Br J Cancer, 1999. 81(3): p. 463-468.
9. Woodman, C., et al.,Are differences in stage at presentation a credible explanation for reported differences in the survival of patients with colorectal cancer in Europe? Br J Cancer, 2001. 85(6): p. 787-790.

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