Incidence of kidney cancer, the eighth most common cancer in England, have risen over two decades although survival rates have improved, a new report by Public Health England’s National Cancer Intelligence Network (NCIN) has revealed.
The report examines trends in survival of kidney cancer in England over 20 years (1990 to 2010) and found that people diagnosed with the main type of kidney cancer, renal cell carcinoma, have seen an overall improvement in survival. However, for around 10% of patients diagnosed with rarer types of kidney cancer such as transitional cell carcinoma (TCC), there has been no significant change. This could be because TCC is less likely to be detected early via medical imaging, but also because of less advances in developing successful treatments.
Professor Julia Verne, strategic lead at Public Health England’s NCIN, said: “This report shows that both one and five-year relative survival rates from kidney cancer have improved and steadily increased since 1990, with no significant difference noted between genders. During this period, one-year survival improved from 58% to 72% in males and 54% to 71% in females, an increase of 14% and 17% respectively. At five years, the survival rate improved from 39% to 55% in males and from 37% to 55% in females.”
