HC Deb 01 March 2004 vol 418 cc711-2W
Mrs. Iris Robinson

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the five year survival rate for lung cancer was(a) in each year between 1993 and 1996 and (b) in the most recent period for which figures are available. [156380]

Ruth Kelly

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.

Letter from Len Cook to Mrs. Iris Robinson, dated 1 March 2004: As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning five years survival rate for lung cancer (a) in each year between 1993 and 1996 and (b) in the most recent period for which figures are available.(156380) Figures for the UK as a whole are not available. Figures are available for each of the component countries of the UK, but these are not directly comparable because of differences in coverage and other reasons. The latest available lung cancer survival figures for adult patients in England and Wales, diagnosed during 1991–99 and followed up to 31 December 2001, are given in the table below. Survival figures are not published by single year of diagnosis.

Five-year age-standardised relative survival rates (percentage) for

adult patients (aged 15 to 99 years) diagnosed with lung cancer

during 1991–95 and 1996–99, England and Wales
1991–95 1996–991
Number of

patients2

 Survival

(percentage)

 Number of

patients2

 Survival

(percentage)
Men 95,903 5.2 67,862 5.8
Women 48,151 5.4 39,455 6.4
1 Five years' potential follow-up was only available for those diagnosed in 1996, but the most up-to-date estimates for shorter-term survival probabilities were used for patients diagnosed in later years (complete analysis).
2 Eligible patients included in the survival analysis; criteria for excluding records, for example where the registration is of a second (different) primary cancer, are given in Health Statistics Quarterly 2000;6: 71–80. http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_health/HSQ6Book.pdf
Source:
Office for National Statistics.

Figures for Northern Ireland are published in Fitzpatrick DA, Gavin AT. Survival of Cancer Patients in Northern Ireland 1993–1996. Belfast: Northern Ireland Cancer Registry, 2001' and are available on the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry website: http://www.qub.ac.uk/nicr/intro.htm