A greater proportion of patients who have curative treatment for oesophageal or stomach cancer are living longer after diagnosis, according to new findings released by the National Oesophago-Gastric Cancer Audit.
The Audit – commissioned by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership, and carried out by a partnership between the Association of Upper Gastro-Intestinal Surgeons, the British Society of Gastroenterology, the Royal College of Radiologists, the Health and Social Care Information Centre, and the Royal College of Surgeons of England – found that nearly 50% of patients with stomach tumours and around 45% of patients with an oesophageal tumour were still alive three years after diagnosis. Ten years ago, only about one third of patients survived longer than three years. The improved results were attributed to better organisation of NHS cancer services in England and Wales. The centralisation of cancer services has allowed patients to have better access to the best available treatment. More than two-thirds (71%) of local hospitals have now combined multi-disciplinary team meetings with specialised hospitals, compared to one third (34%) five years ago. This has transformed patient care and surgery is now safer than it was 10 years ago. Richard Hardwick, consultant surgeon and member of the Association of Upper GI Surgeons (AUGIS), said “Survival of patients undergoing curative surgery for oesophageal or stomach cancer has improved significantly. Our next challenge is to reduce the rates of complications following these major operations so that our patients recover more quickly from their surgery.”
