§ Tim LoughtonTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the survival rate was for throat cancer in the UK in the last 12 months. [71097]
§ Ruth Kelly[holding answer 18 July 2002]: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from John Pullinger to Mr. Tim Loughton, dated 24 July 2002: The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question on the survival rate for throat cancer in the UK in the last 12 months. I am replying in his absence. (71097)
Cancer of the larynx is commonly referred to as "throat cancer". Information on laryngeal cancer survival for the UK as a whole is not available. Survival rates for the constituent countries of the UK are not comparable.
Cancers of the throat and related areas are formally classified to codes C13 and C14 (malignant neoplasm of hypopharynx, and malignant neoplasm of other and ill-defined sites in the lip, oral cavity and pharynx) according to the International Classification of Disease tenth revision (ICD10). There were 311 newly diagnosed cases of cancers in these locations in England in 1998, the most recent year for which information is available. No information on survival is available.
1179WInformation on survival from cancer of the larynx for patients diagnosed in England and Wales is summarised in chapter 21 of the book Cancer Survival Trends1. This publication present cancer survival trends in patients diagnosed between 1971 and 1990 and followed up for at least five years to the end of 1995.
For men, the most recent information available relates to diagnosis in 1991–93 and follow-up up to the end of 1998 (Health Statistics Quarterly 62). The crude' survival rate was 51% and relative' survival 64%, based on 4,501 men diagnosed. Women are not included in the analysis, as they represent less than 20% of all the cases of cancer of the larynx.
The figures for patients diagnosed in 1986–90 and followed up to the end of 1995, are given in the table below.
One-and five-year survival from cancer of the larynx* for patients diagnosed in 1986–90, England and Wales One-year (%) Five year (%) Number of patients Crude 1 Relative 1 Crude 1 Relative 1 Men 7,195 80 84 51 64 Women 1,592 76 79 49 58 Source:
Coleman MP et al. Cancer Survival Trends in England and Wales, 1971–1995: deprivation and NHS Region.
Studies in Medical and Population Subjects No. 61. London: The Stationery Office, 1999.
*Cancer of the larynx has been defined to the International Classification of Disease eight and ninth revision (ICD8 and ICD9) code 161 for the period 1975–1994, and to the code C32 according to the International Classification of Disease tenth revision (ICD10) from 1995 onwards.
1Crude survival is the proportion of a cohort of subjects alive at the end of a specified time interval since diagnosis (irrespective of the cause of death). Relative survival is the ratio of the observed survival in the group being studied and the survival that would have been expected had they been subject only to the mortality rates of the general population.
1Coleman MP et al. Cancer Survival Trends in England and Wales, 1971–1995: deprivation and NHS Region. Studies in Medical and Population Subjects No. 61. London: The Stationery Office, 1999.
2Coleman MP, Babb P, Harris S, Quinn Mi. Sloggett A, De Stavola B. Cancer survival in England and Wales, 1991–98. Health Statistics Quarterly 6:71–80, The Stationery Office (2000) on the National Statistics website at http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_ health/HSQ6Book.pdf