Thu 25 Jun 2009
Nine in ten could survive bowel cancer if discovered early
Bowel cancer patients have more than a nine in ten chance of surviving their illness if it is caught early enough, new figures show. 

But at present, only 13 percent of patients have their cancer discovered early enough to have the best chance of surviving.

Experts say that the figures show the importance of screened for bowel cancer. A screening programme is currently being rolled out, and should be available nationwide by the end of the year.

Bowel cancer is the third most common cancer in the UK. Although survival rates have doubled in the past 30 years, around 16,000 people still die of bowel cancer each year.

What do the new figures say?

The statistics, which come from the National Cancer Intelligence Network, emphasise how important it is to detect and treat bowel cancer at an early stage.

The researchers calculated how long people with bowel cancer live compared with people of a similar age who don't have cancer. This is called 'relative survival'. It's useful because people with bowel cancer tend to be over 60, so may be at risk of death from other causes, such as heart disease.

The earliest stage of bowel cancer is stage A. People diagnosed at this stage are almost as likely to be alive 5 years later as people without cancer. Their relative survival, compared with healthy people, was 93 percent. The actual proportion of people alive 5 years after being diagnosed was 74 percent, because some people had died of other illnesses.

Currently, only 13 percent of people are diagnosed at stage A. Most people find out they have cancer when it's spread further, at stage B. For these people, the relative 5-year survival is 77 percent. In other words, they're three-quarters as likely to be alive 5 years later, compared with a person without cancer. The actual proportion of people still alive after 5 years was 59 percent.

By stage C, the relative survival falls to 48 percent, with 38 percent of patients still alive 5 years later. At stage D, the outlook is even worse. The relative survival is 7 percent, with only about 5 percent of people still alive after 5 years.

The figures include everyone in England diagnosed with bowel cancer between 1996 and 2002.

Why is survival only measured for 5 years?

If bowel cancer comes back after treatment, it's most likely to do so in the first few years. If the cancer hasn't come back within 5 years, it's reasonable for a patient to think of themselves as cured. However, there's always a small chance that cancer can come back later on, so doctors are careful not to talk about cure rates. They talk about 5-year survival instead.

Do I need a screening test?

Experts say that the survival figures show the importance of bowel cancer screening. Screening helps to diagnose bowel cancer before there are visible symptoms, increasing the chance of successful treatment

Source: www.guardian.co.uk