Non-Hodgkin lymphoma survival statistics

There have been significant improvements in one-, five- and ten-year survival from NHL over the past 30 years. For patients diagnosed with NHL in England and Wales in the early 1970s the five-year survival rate was around 30%, but for patients diagnosed in the late 1990s it was around 50% (Figure 3.1 ). 1 Survival rates are consistently higher in women than men.

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A recent analysis showed that ten year relative survival rates for patients diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in England and Wales have doubled over the last forty years. Around half of patients (50.8%) are now predicted to survive their disease for at least ten years or more, compared to a fifth (21.8%) in the early 1970s. 4

Survival rates for NHL vary significantly by age, the five-year survival rate for those diagnosed aged 15-44 is 65%, while for those aged 65-74 it is 37% and those aged 85+ it is 13%. 2

The age-standardised relative five-year survival rates for male patients diagnosed with NHL 1990-1994 for the European countries participating in the EUROCARE 3 project are shown in Figure 3.2. 3 Survival rates in Wales and Scotland are significantly lower than the European average but rates in England are not significantly different.

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