London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

Trends in one-year survival index for cancer from 1998 - 2013 have been published in a new bulletin, produced by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine in partnership with the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The bulletin reveals trends in the one-year survival index for all cancers combined for England as a whole, and for each of the country's 209 Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) - clinically-led NHS bodies that are responsible for planning and commissioning health services in their local area. The statistics relate to adults diagnosed between 1998 and 2013, and followed up to 2014.

Dr Manuela Quaresma, Research Fellow in Statistics at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, who produced the bulletin in partnership with ONS, said:

"The new figures show that in England, the index of one-year survival for all cancers combined improved from 60% in 1998 to 70% in 2013*. The one-year survival index increased steadily for all CCGs throughout that period. In 2013, the index ranged from 63.9% to 74.5% between CCGs with the lowest and highest survival rates, compared with 52.0% to 64.7% in 1998.

"It is crucial to use this data to focus on the trends and overall patterns, rather than the survival estimate for any particular year. Any CCG for which the one-year survival index is consistently lower than the England average should consider why cancer survival in its area might be low, and initiate further investigations.

"As well as providing an important national overview, these figures are intended to be a tool to help CCGs review their performance, and to identify potential for improvement in the diagnosis, referral and treatment of cancer patients.

"Survival estimates should not be used as the only indicator of a CCG's performance in cancer outcomes. To gain a more complete picture of the cancer burden in a particular CCG, these estimates should be used alongside other information available, such as cancer incidence and mortality data."

For the first time the bulletin, which is released annually, also includes estimates of one-year age-standardised survival for breast cancer (women), and age-sex-standardised survival for colorectal and lung cancer in each CCG.

Bulletin

• Index of cancer survival for Clinical Commissioning Groups in England: Adults diagnosed 1998-2013 and followed up to 2014

*70.2% net survival index, all cancers combined, one year after diagnosis during 2013, an increase from 60.1% net survival index, all cancers combined, one year after diagnosis in 1998.