Semi Good News For cancer Patients-They are Now Twice As Likely To Survive At Least 10 Years Than In The 1970s

 

People are twice as likely to live at least 10 years after being diagnosed with cancer than they were at the start of the 1970s, new research shows. More than 170,000 people in the UK who were diagnosed in the 1970s and 1980s are still alive.

This is an 'extraordinary' number, Macmillan Cancer Support said in its report Cancer: Then And Now.

 

The increase in long-term cancer survivors is due to more sophisticated treatment combined with an ageing population, the charity said.

But it acknowledged there was still a huge variation in survival rates according to the type of cancer.

However, it warned the consequences were increasing demand on the NHS, with more people living for longer with long-term side-effects.

Macmillan chief executive Lynda Thomas said: 'More and more people are being diagnosed with cancer and, in general, having a more sophisticated life with their cancer than perhaps they would have done.

'What we are now seeing is that lot of people are coming in and out of treatment, so all of that does put pressure on the NHS.'

Around 625,000 people in the UK are estimated to be facing poor health or disability after treatment for the disease.

It can cause long-term consequences ranging from painful lower-leg swelling in women following breast cancer to emotional trauma.

 More than 170,000 people in the UK diagnosed in the 1970s are still alive today, this is due to more sophisticated treatment and an ageing population. Long term effects include incontinence, leg swelling and emotional trauma

DailyMail UK.