Long-term survival of people with cancer in mainland France

For the first time, the National Cancer Institute, the Francim network of cancer registries, the Biostatistics Department of the Hospices Civils de Lyon, and Santé publique France have published a report on the survival rates of people with cancer, based on the time elapsed since diagnosis.

As a recent indicator, conditional net survival* sheds new light on the survival of people with cancer. It provides a dynamic prognosis by updating the probability of survival as time elapses since diagnosis. Complementing the standard net survival measure, it allows for the study of long-term survival. It is therefore particularly informative for clinicians.

A large-scale study

The study covers the 15 most common solid tumors in women and the 17 most common solid tumors in men. It is based on data from metropolitan cancer registries for the period 1989–2013.

Key takeaways

The study shows that the risk of dying from cancer varies over time and depending on the type of cancer involved.

  • For most of the cancers studied, it is observed that, outside of critical periods such as the onset of the disease, the risk of dying from cancer tends to decrease. Net 5- or 10-year survival is thus largely determined by the risk of death in the period immediately following diagnosis.

  • For certain cancers (head and neck, melanoma, cervical, ovarian, breast, and central nervous system), the risk of death increases during the first or even the second year following diagnosis before subsequently decreasing.

  • For other cancers, the risk of dying from the cancer during the fifth year following diagnosis remains above 10%. This is the case for half of the cancers studied in men (oral cavity, liver, hypopharynx, esophagus, oropharynx, pancreas, lung, central nervous system). The outlook appears more favorable for women, particularly younger women, with five of the 17 cancers studied having a risk of death exceeding 10% in the fifth year after diagnosis (pancreas, liver, central nervous system, lung, ovary).

Reducing the impact of cancer on personal life and improving knowledge

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The results of these analyses are used to reduce the impact of cancer on personal life, notably in developing the reference grid for the Aeras agreement (insurability of individuals with an increased health risk), which aims to facilitate access to insurance for people who have had cancer.

More broadly, the findings help improve our understanding of the impact of various cancers on public health.

Learn more:

Net conditional survival among people with cancer in mainland France

* Net survival corresponds to the survival observed if cancer is the sole cause of death.