Cancer Patients Twice As Likely To Live 10 Years

People are twice as likely to live at least 10 years after a cancer diagnosis than they were in the 1970s, according to a new study.

More than 170,000 people in the UK who were diagnosed with cancer in the 1970s and 1980s are still alive, an "extraordinary" number according to Macmillan Cancer Support.

The increase in long-term survival is being put down to more sophisticated treatment combined with an ageing population, the charity said in its report Cancer: Then And Now.

But it warned it also meant increasing demand on the NHS, with more people living longer and suffering long-term side effects.

Greig Trout may have got cancer again after radiotherapy he had as a child

And it acknowledged there was still a large variation in survival rates depending on the type of cancer.

Lynda Thomas, Macmillan chief executive, said: "More and more people are being diagnosed with cancer and, in general, having a more sophisticated life with their cancer than perhaps they would have done.

"What we are now seeing is that a lot of people are coming in and out of treatment, so all of that does put pressure on the NHS."

Around 625,000 people in the UK are estimated to face poor health or disability after cancer treatment.

Long-term consequences can range from painful lower-leg swelling to emotional trauma.

The number of people living with cancer in the UK is predicted to grow from 2.5 million to four million by 2030.

Mrs Thomas said the challenge for medical professionals is to "keep up to speed" with the potential side effects as new treatments emerge.

Macmillan also estimates there could be around 42,500 people who were diagnosed with cancer in the 1970s and 1980s who may still be dealing with long-term consequences.

Greig Trout was diagnosed with cancer as a child, and developed scoliosis, deep vein thrombosis and eczema after treatment. 

Doctors believed his second bout of cancer, diagnosed when he was 30, could have been triggered by the radiation therapy he received more than 20 years earlier.

The 37-year-old said: "The life-saving treatment I had as a child has come back to bite me in the future, but I'm still here.

"Developments of cancer treatment are just getting better and better so I hope that more people don't have to go through what I've been through as a child."