Survival from less common cancers in England and the United States
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Factors influencing survival from less common cancers in England and the United States
IRAS ID
197414
Contact name
Maria Theresa Redaniel
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Bristol
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 7 months, 0 days
Research summary
Cancer survival in England has consistently increased since the mid-1990s. However, throughout this period, survival for major cancers in England has lagged behind similar developed countries; remaining below the average for Europe and for the United States. Cancer survival for common cancers in the United States is consistently above the European average.
Whilst such international comparisons in survival have been made for common cancers, there are fewer reports on comparisons between England and other countries for survival from less common cancers. Altogether, cancers that are not one of the big four (female breast, colorectal, lung, and prostate) comprised nearly half (47%) of all new cancer diagnoses in England in 2013, with some having incredibly poor survival rates (e.g., brain and liver cancers, with five-year survival < 20% in the UK).
The present study aims to compare population-level relative survival for particular less common cancers (bladder, brain, gallbladder, liver, small-cell lung cancer, stomach, and thyroid) in England and the United States, using identical methodologies and time periods. In addition, we will explore how certain factors (e.g., age, gender, cancer stage, tumour grade) influence excess mortality from different cancers, and whether these factors are similar between countries. With the assumption that survival will be higher in the United States, we hope to gain some understanding of why this is, in order to help improve cancer survival in England.REC name
North of Scotland Research Ethics Committee 1
REC reference
17/NS/0029
Date of REC Opinion
3 Apr 2017
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion