CDC: About 2 in 3 people with invasive cancer survive at least five years

Nearly two-thirds of Americans diagnosed with cancer survive for five or more years, according to a report released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Among the most common cancer sites, the five-year relative survival rate (compared with comparable cancer-free persons) is highest for prostate cancer (97%) and breast cancer (88%), intermediate for colorectal cancer (63%), and lowest for lung cancer (18%). About 1.5 million new cases of invasive cancers were diagnosed in 2011. Overall incidence rates ranged from 374 cases per 100,000 people in New Mexico to 509 cases per 100,000 in the District of Columbia. “These data are an important reminder that a key to surviving with cancer is making sure everyone has access to care from early diagnosis to treatment,” said Lisa Richardson, M.D., director of CDC’s Division of Cancer Prevention and Control. “We know, for example, that early detection of colorectal cancer has had the largest impact on long-term survival rates.”