The results showed the probability of surviving these cancers decreases if they are diagnosed at a more advanced stage of the disease.For example, women diagnosed with breast cancer experienced five-year net survival rates of 100 per cent when the disease was detected in stage I, 92 per cent in stage II, 74 per cent in stage III and 23 per cent in stage IV.
For colon cancer, five-year net survival decreased from 92 per cent at stage I to 11 per cent at stage IV, whereas for prostate cancer, the prognosis was close to 100 per cent for the first three stages, then declined to 41 per cent at stage IV.Overall, net survival rates exceeded 90 per cent for all cancers studied that were caught in stage I, except for lung cancer.
For lung cancer, survival rates dropped by just over 20 percentage points between stages I and II of the disease as well as from stage II to III, and decreased by another 13 points from stage III to IV.“The work showcases the stage at diagnosis as a key predictor of prognosis and highlights the importance of detecting cancer at an early stage, when treatment is most effective,” the study says.
“The findings can be used by Canadian health professionals to better inform health policy and treatment evaluation.”