around 3 in 4 (75.9%) women diagnosed with breast cancer in England survive their disease for ten years or more, it is predicted (2013-2017)
around 8 in 10 (80.6%) women in England diagnosed with breast cancer between ages 15-44 survive their disease for ten years or more, compared with almost 6 in 10 (57.1%) women diagnosed aged 75-99 (2013-2017); ten-year survival is highest in women aged 55-64 (87.2%) (2013-2017)
breast cancer survival has doubled in the last 50 years in the UK
in the 1970s, 4 in 10 (40.0%) women diagnosed with breast cancer survived their disease beyond ten years, by the 2010s it was almost 8 in 10 (78.4%)
almost 9 in 10 (88.4%) women in England diagnosed with breast cancer in the least deprived group survive their disease for five years or more, compared with more than 8 in 10 (82.1%) women in the most deprived group (2016-2020)
five-year relative survival for breast cancer in women is below the European average in England, Wales and Scotland but similar to the European average in Northern Ireland. Further details on cancer survival in Europe can be found on the EUROCARE website(link is external)
for breast cancer, like other cancer sites, survival trends reflect a combination of changes in treatment and stage distribution. These factors themselves can vary by age, sex and deprivation.
Taylor et al note:
since the 1990s, the five year risk of death from breast cancer has decreased from 14.4% to 4.9% overall, with reductions seen in nearly all patient groups
five year risks of death from breast cancer in patients with a recent diagnosis varied widely and were under 3% for 62.8% of women but 20% or higher for 4.6% of women
Taylor C, McGale P, Probert J, Broggio J, Charman J, Darby S C et al. Breast cancer mortality in 500,000 women with early invasive breast cancer in England, 1993-2015: population based observational cohort study BMJ 2023; 381 :e074684 doi:10.1136/bmj-2022-074684
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