More children likely to survive cancer: Australian study

Australian children who live at least five years after being diagnosed with cancer are likely to enjoy long-term survival similar to that of children without the disease, new research released on Thursday by the Cancer Council Australia shows.

Cancer Council Australia is a national non-government cancer control organization with that aims to facilitate prevention, research, support, and care.

The latest figures found the chance of surviving for a further five years increased from 82 percent at diagnosis to 89 percent one year after diagnosis, rising to 95 percent after three years, and 97 percent after five years.

Katie Cliff from the Cancer Council's Queensland subsidiary told local media the survival rates are regardless of a child's age or cancer type.

"While the results do not necessarily indicate cure, these survival estimates provide childhood cancer patients, parents and families with some level of reassurance and a more realistic basis to plan for the future," said Cliff.

The increase in rates have been attributed to more effective treatments resulting from research and clinical trials, where the five-year survival for children diagnosed with rose from 76 percent in 1992-2001 to 82 percent during 2002-2011.

Around 640 children under the age of 15 are diagnosed with cancer every year in Australia, and almost half of all cases are diagnosed in children under four.

Earlier on Thursday the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) projected the overall cancer death rate to reduce over the next decade.

Cancer death rates have generally decreased over time, with the death rate from all cancers combined decreasing from 199 deaths per 100,000 people in 1968 to 167 per 100,000 in 2012.

AIHW projected that between 2013 and 2025, the death rate from all cancers will continue this overall downward trend from an estimated 214 to 183 deaths per 100,000 males, and from 135 to 120 deaths per 100,000 females.

"While the death rate for cancer is predicted to decline, the estimated number of deaths from cancer is predicted to increase," AIHW spokesperson Justin Harvey.

Between 2013 and 2025, the number of deaths from cancer is predicted to increase from an estimated 25,580 to 32,010 deaths among males, and from 19,450 to 24,250 deaths among female, due to the aging and increasing size of Australia's population, according the report Cancer mortality trends and projections: 2013 to 2025.

"However, many other factors may affect cancer-related deaths in the future, some of which cannot yet be taken into account when preparing these estimates," Harvey said.

These include changes in diagnostic practices which may lead to unexpected shifts in incidence and survival rates, as well as changes in management and treatment options.

Cancer Council Australia's Director of Public Policy, Paul Grogan, celebrated the projection, however he said they were of little comfort for the thousands of individuals coping with a cancer diagnosis.

"Behind every statistic in today's new AIHW report there is a real human story," Grogan said on the council's website. "While we should celebrate our achievements, we are still facing a projected 56,000 Australian cancer deaths in 2025. There are things we can all do, now, to work towards bringing that figure down." Endi