North London Cancer Network

The Office for National Statistics has released data on cancer survival in Spearhead Primary Care Trusts from 1998-2004 suggesting that those living in these PCTs are less likely to survive common cancers. Spearhead PCTs are the most health-deprived areas in the country and are targeted for improvement by the government. Key findings from these statistics include:

• One-year and five-year survival rates among men were lower in Spearhead PCTs across all the seven cancers examined. This was also the case for women for seven of the nine cancers examined. five-year survival was similar to the rest of England for cervical and ovarian cancers

• The greatest differences in five-year survival rates between Spearhead PCTs and others were for cancer of the bladder and rectum.

• Breast cancer survival after five years was 78.2 per cent in the Spearhead PCTs compared with 79.8 per cent in the rest of England.

• Prostate cancer survival after five years was 69.2 per cent in the Spearhead PCTs compared with 71.1 per cent in the rest of England.

• For lung cancer, five-year survival for men was 5.9 per cent in ‘Spearhead’ PCTs compared with 6.6 per cent in the rest of England. For women the equivalent figures were 7.5 per cent and 7.6 per cent respectively.

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