What are the Five Year Cancer Survival Rates in 2021?
Diagnosis at an earlier stage of a cancer’s development is associated with improved outcomes and increased survival chances.
Early diagnosis can be improved through reducing cancer waiting times, such as the time people wait to see a specialist after an urgent referral from a GP, or the time people wait for diagnostic tests.
Health insurance covers you for private healthcare and covers cancer treatment and costs which can run into hundreds of thousands of dollars.
How Does the 5 Year Cancer Survival Rate Vary by Cancer Type?
Studies were for the period 2014 – 2018.
- The cancers with the lowest five-year survival estimates are mesothelioma (7.2%), pancreatic cancer (7.3%) and brain cancer (12.8%).
- The highest five-year survival estimates are seen in patients with testicular cancer (97%), melanoma of skin (92.3%) and prostate cancer (88%).
- Lung cancer five-year survival rate is 63% (localized), 35% (regional) and 7% (distant).
- – Localized: There is no sign that the cancer has spread outside of the lung.
- – Regional: The cancer has spread outside the lung to nearby structures or lymph nodes.
- – Distant: The cancer has spread to distant parts of the body, such as the brain, bones, liver, or the other lung.
- Skin cancer, melanoma of the skin had the highest age-standardised net survival for 1-year in both males (97.6%) and females (98.8%) and for 5-year in males (90.1%) and females (94.5%).
- Pancreatic cancer had the lowest age-standardised net survival for 1-year in males (25.3%) and females (26.6%), and for 5-year in females (8.2%) and 6.7% for males.
- Breast cancer 5 yearsurvival rates is 99% (localized), 86% (regional) and 28% distant.
- – Localized: There is no sign that the cancer has spread outside of the breast.
- – Regional: The cancer has spread outside the breast to nearby structures or lymph nodes.
- – Distant: The cancer has spread to distant parts of the body such as the lungs, liver or bones.
- Childhood cancer survival has continued to improve for 1-, 5- and 10-years, with the 5-year survival seeing the greatest improvement over time; an increase of 7.4 percentage points, from 77.2% in 2001 to 84.6% predicted for children diagnosed in 2019.
- Cervical cancer survival is 64%. Cervical cancer is highly preventable if detected and treated before progression occurs. The main cause of cervical cancer is sexual exposure to human papilloma virus (HPV). About half of OECD countries have cervical screening programmes and around half have implemented HPV vaccination programmes.
- Colon cancer survival is 71%. Bowel cancer is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer worldwide.
In England, all girls aged 12 to 13 are offered the HPV vaccination, and from the 2019-20 school year the programme has been extended to all boys aged 12 to 13 years old. In recent years, uptake of the first dose of the vaccine has fluctuated around 89% and uptake of the second dose is slightly lower at around 84%.
Why Buy Expat Health Insurance?
Usually, Brits are covered by the NHS in the UK, so if they contract cancer or other serious illnesses, the healthcare costs are covered by the State.
Once you become non-resident, by living abroad, you are no longer covered by the National Health Service.
Expat health insurance gives you cover at private hospitals. Health insurance is complicated and you need to read the terms and conditions carefully to make sure you are covered for cancer and serious illnesses. That is why cheaper health insurance is not always the wisest choice and people need guidance.
A qualified financial adviser can point you in the right direction in order to get the right health insurance to suit your needs.