Toronto: Statistics Canada has reported that the five-year survival rate for people diagnosed with lung cancer has doubled. However, the report also notes that it remains the leading cause of cancer deaths in the country. The number of people who survived five years after diagnosis increased from 13 percent to 27 percent among those diagnosed between 1992 and 2021.
The report attributes this increase to new treatment methods and improved screening programs. Targeted drug therapies and immunotherapy, which boosts the patient’s immune system, played a major role. Jessica Moffat, Vice President of the Lung Health Foundation, said that organized lung screening programs, which help detect cancer earlier, have been launched in Ontario, British Columbia, and Nova Scotia, and will help further increase survival rates.
In addition to lung cancer, the report states that cancers affecting the thyroid, testes, prostate, and breast have a survival rate of over 90 percent. Meanwhile, the survival rate for mesothelioma, pancreatic cancer, and cancer of the bile ducts in the liver is below 10 percent. These cancers are often detected at an advanced stage. The data was collected from Statistics Canada’s Canadian Cancer Registry and Canadian Vital Statistics Death Database.
