Abstract
A major increase in long-term survival of cancer patients in the 1990s has recently been demonstrated. It is unclear, however, to what extent this increase has been shared by cancer patients at various ages. Using the 1973–2000 data base of the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results programme, recent increase in10-year relative survival of cancer patients in the U S was assessed for 4 major age groups and 15 major cancer sites by comparing results of a period analysis for the 1996–2000 period with results of a cohort analysis for patients diagnosed in 1986–1990. Period estimates of 10-year relative survival for all forms of cancer combined in 1996–2000 were 66.1, 58.8, 56.3 and 47.1 for age groups 15–54, 55–64, 65–74 and ≥75years, respectively. They were 7.4, 10.4, 7.8 and 3.0 units higher than the respective 1986–1990 cohort estimates for these age groups. The increase in 10-year relative survival strongly varied by cancer site, but it was generally less pronounced in older than in younger patients. We conclude that long-term survival expectations of cancer patients have increased in all age groups in the 1990s. However, for most common forms of cancer, the age gradient in survival has either persisted or widened.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
H Brenner T Hakulinen (2001) ArticleTitleLong-term cancer patient survival achieved by the end of the 20th century: most up-to-date estimates from the nationwide Finnish Cancer Registry Br J Cancer 85 367–371
H Brenner P Kaatsch T Burkhardt-Hammer DO Harms M Schrappe J Michaelis (2001) ArticleTitleLong-term survival of children with leukemia achieved by the end of the second millenium Cancer 92 1977–1983
T Aareleid H Brenner (2002) ArticleTitleTrends in cancer patient survival in Estonia before and after transition from a Soviet republic to an open market economy Int J Cancer 102 45–50
H Brenner (2002) ArticleTitleLong-term survival rates of cancer patients achieved by the end of the 20th century: a period analysis Lancet 360 1131–1135
LK Smith PC Lambert DR Jones (2003) ArticleTitleUp-to-date estimates of long-term survival in England and Wales Br J Cancer 89 74–76
H Brenner O Gefeller (1996) ArticleTitleAn alternative approach to monitoring cancer patient survival Cancer 78 2004–2010
AK Kant C Glover J Horm A Schatzkin TB Harris (1992) ArticleTitleDoes cancer survival differ for older patients? Cancer 70 2734–2740
M Vercelli A Quaglia C Casella et al. (1998) ArticleTitleRelative survival in elderly cancer patients in Europe Eur J Cancer 34 2264–2270
M Vercelli R Capocaccia A Quaglia et al. (2000) ArticleTitleRelative survival in elderly European cancer patients: evidence for health care inequalities Crit Rev Oncol Hematol 35 161–179
Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program Public Use Data (1973–2000). Bethesda (MD): National Cancer Institute, DCCPS, Cancer Surveillance Research Program, Cancer Statistics Branch, released April 2003, based on the November 2002 submission.
SJ Cutler F Ederer (1958) ArticleTitleMaximum utilization of the life table method in analysing survival J Chron Dis 8 699–712
F Ederer LM Axtell SJ Cutler (1961) ArticleTitleThe relative survival rate: a statistical methodology Natl Cancer Inst Monogr 6 101–121
H Brenner T Hakulinen (2002) ArticleTitleUp-to-date survival curves of patients with cancer by period analysis J Clin Oncol 20 826–832
H Brenner B Söderman T Hakulinen (2002) ArticleTitleUse of period analysis for providing more up-to-date estimates of long-term survival rates: empirical evaluation among 370, 000 cancer patients in Finland Int J Epidemiol 31 456–462
H Brenner T Hakulinen (2002) ArticleTitleAdvanced detection of time trends in long-term cancer patient survival: experience from 50 years of cancer registration in Finland Am J Epidemiol 156 566–577
T Hakulinen (1982) ArticleTitleCancer survival corrected for heterogeneity in patient withdrawal Biometrics 38 933–942
E Arias (2002) ArticleTitleUnited States life tables, 2000 Natl Vital Stat Rep 51 1–39
M Greenwood (1926) A Report on the Natural Duration of Cancer Ministry of Health, HMSO London
H Brenner T Hakulinen O Gefeller (2002) ArticleTitleComputational realization of period analysis for monitoring cancer patient survival Epidemiology 13 611–612
R Yancik MN Wesley LA Ries et al. (1998) ArticleTitleComorbidity and age as predictors of risk for early mortality of male and female colon carcinoma patients: a population-based study Cancer 82 2123–2134
JS Goodwin WC Hunt JM Samet (1993) ArticleTitleDeterminants of cancer therapy in elderly patients Cancer 72 594–601
JS Goodwin JM Samet WC Hunt (1996) ArticleTitleDeterminants of survival in older cancer patients J Natl Cancer Inst 88 1031–1038
ME Carney JM Lancaster C Ford A Tsodikov CL Wiggins (2002) ArticleTitleA population-based study of patterns of care for ovarian cancer: who is seen by a gynaecologic oncologist and who is not? Gynecol Oncol 84 36–42
DC Farrow WC Hunt JM Samet (1996) ArticleTitleTemporal and regional variability in the surgical treatment of cancer among older people J Am Geriatr Soc 44 559–564
CC Earle PJ Neumann RD Gelber MC Weinstein JC Weeks (2002) ArticleTitleImpact of referral patterns on the use of chemotherapy for lung cancer J Clin Oncol 20 1786–1792
L Balducci (2000) ArticleTitleGeriatric oncology: challenges for the new century Eur J Cancer 36 1741–1754
KM Alektiar E Venkatraman N Abu-Rustum RR Barakat (2003) ArticleTitleIs endometrial carcinoma intrinsically more aggressive in elderly patients Cancer 98 2368–2377
RJ McKenna SuffixSr (1994) ArticleTitleClinical aspects of cancer in the elderly. Treatment decisions, treatment choices, and follow-up Cancer 74 2107–2117
L Repetto G Ausili-Cefaro C Gallo A Rossi L Manzione (2001) ArticleTitleQuality of life in elderly cancer patients Ann Oncol 12 S49–S52
EL Trimble CL Carter D Cain B Freidlin RS Ungerleider MA Friedman (1994) ArticleTitleRepresentation of older patients in cancer treatment trials Cancer 74 2208–2214
LF Hutchins JM Unger JJ Crowley CA Coltman SuffixJr KS Albain (1999) ArticleTitleUnderrepresentation of patients 65 years of age or older in cancer-treatment trials N Engl J Med 341 2061–2067
JH Lewis ML Kilgore DP Goldman et al. (2003) ArticleTitleParticipation of patients 65 years of age or older in cancer clinical trials J Clin Oncol 21 1383–1389
SG Diab RM Elledge GM Clark (2000) ArticleTitleTumour characteristics and clinical outcome of elderly women with breast cancer J Natl Cancer Inst 92 550–556
MA Maggard JB O’Connell KE Lane JH Liu DA Etzioni CY Ko (2003) ArticleTitleDo young breast cancer patients have worse outcomes? J Surg Res 113 109–113
RM Merrill JS Bird (2002) ArticleTitleEffect of young age on prostate cancer survival: a population based assessment (United States) Cancer Causes Control 13 435–443
AL Potosky EJ Feuer DL Levin (2001) ArticleTitleImpact of screening on incidence and mortality of prostate cancer in the United States Epidemiol Rev 23 181–186
G Draisma R Boer SJ Otto et al. (2003) ArticleTitleLead times and overdetection due to prostate-specific antigen screening: estimates from the European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer J Natl Cancer Inst 95 838–839
HG Welch LM Schwartz S Woloshin (2000) ArticleTitleAre increasing 5-year survival rates evidence of success against cancer JAMA 283 2975–2978
KC Chu RE Tarone HP Freeman (2003) ArticleTitleTrends in prostate cancer mortality among black men and white men in the United States Cancer 97 1507–1516
JS Barnholtz-Sloan AG Schwartz F Qureshi S Jacques J Malone AR Munkarah (2003) ArticleTitleOvarian cancer: changes in patterns at diagnosis and relative survival over the last decades Am J Obstet Gynecol 189 1120–1127
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Brenner, H., Arndt, V. Recent increase in cancer survival according to age: higher survival in all age groups, but widening age gradient. Cancer Causes Control 15, 903–910 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-004-1484-3
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-004-1484-3