UK Pancreatic Cancer Prognosis and Survival Rates

The pancreatic cancer survival rates in the table below reflect that pancreatic cancer prognosis is poor and are attributable to the fact that pancreatic cancer is often diagnosed at a late stage where the cancer has progressed to a point where surgical removal is impossible. However,  patients who are diagnosed in time for surgery do considerably better and have a > 30% chance of surviving beyond five years after diagnosis*. This is why we at Pancreatic Cancer Action are campaigning for earlier diagnosis of pancreatic cancer and developing educational and awareness programmes for the public and medical communities so more people can be diagnosed in time for surgery – currently the only potential for a cure.

UK and Ireland Relative Pancreatic Cancer Survival Rates (1 & 5 years):

Now includes data from the Republic of Ireland

¹ Office for National Statistics Statistical Bulletin: Cancer Survival in England patients diagnosed 2005-2009 followed up to 2010   accessed 20/04/2012

² Welsh Cancer Intelligence & Surveillance Unit Cancer in Wales: A comprehensive report Published September 2011. 

1 yr survival rates data period 2005-2009; 5 yr survival data period 200-2004

³ ISD Scotland – patients diagnosed between 2003 and 2007 

⁴ Northern Ireland Cancer Registry, Queens University, Belfast Survival data period 2000-2004 for both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland

*Relative survival is an estimate of the observed survival divided by the expected probability of survival in the general population. This can be thought of as a measure of the net survival expectation after contracting cancer, or the probability of survival from cancer in the absence of other causes of death.

*Ghaneh et al., (2008) Neoadjuvant and adjuvant strategies for pancreatic cancer EJSO 34 297-305

Pancreatic cancer has the lowest survival rates of all cancers and there has been no improvement over the past 40 years

There has been no improvement in the UK mortality rate for pancreatic cancer since 1955:

The NHS Cancer Plan was introduced in England in 2001 to improve survival from cancers. This strategy has not improved the mortality from pancreatic cancer:

One-year survival rates for pancreatic cancer in the UK lag behind the European average according to EUROCARE Study (2009):

One-Year Survival (%) by Cancer Network in England

The NHS Cancer Plan (2000) established cancer networks as the organisational model that would bring about change and address the cancer plan agenda. Since then, other key pieces of national and regional guidance (such as the Cancer Reform Strategy 2007) have identified cancer networks as key players in the delivery of improvements to cancer services.

A cancer network is an organisational model, or a ‘way of working’. They bring together providers (organisations that provide services) and commissioners (organisations that plan, purchase and monitor services), as well as local authorities, voluntary and charity organisations and users of cancer services (patients and their carers) to work collaboratively as a system, to plan and deliver high quality cancer services for a given population.

There are currently 28 cancer networks in England. The graph below highlights the vast differences in one-year survival rates for pancreatic cancer between these networks. We don’t yet understand exactly why this is the case and more research needs to happen to identify the reasons for these inequalities.