The survival rates of cancer patients have increased. At this point, about 61 percent are cured.
Differences
Survival rates vary by type of cancer. The survival rate for breast, prostate and skin cancers is more than 85 percent. With pancreatic cancer, only six percent of patients are still alive five years after being diagnosed.
The differences arise mainly because some forms of cancer are often discovered relatively late, which means that treatment is no longer possible.
Increase
The fact that more people are surviving cancer is good news. Unfortunately, the number of cancer patients is also increasing. In 2011, 100,600 people contracted cancer, about four percent more than in 2010 (96,500 people).
Yesterday was World Cancer Day>>
