Oesophageal cancer survival statistics

Survival

Survive oesophageal cancer for 10 or more years, 2013-2017, England and Wales

Age

Age that oesophageal cancer survival is highest, 2009-2013, England

 

Improvement

Oesophageal cancer survival in the UK has tripled in the last 40 years

 

47.1% of males survive oesophageal cancer for at least one year. This falls to 16.3% surviving for five years or more, as shown by age-standardised net survival for patients diagnosed with oesophageal cancer during 2013-2017 in England.[1] Survival for females at one year is 46.0% and falls to 18.7% surviving for at least five years. Survival for females is similar to than for males at one year, and higher than for at five years.

Oesophageal Cancer Age-Standardised One-, Five- and Ten-Year Net Survival, Adults (Aged 15-99), England, 2013-2017

The bar chart shows one- and five-year net survival and predicted ten-year net survival, with 95% confidence intervals. Open a glossary item
 
Oesophageal cancer survival continues to fall beyond five years after diagnosis. 12.4% of people are predicted to survive their disease for ten years or more, as shown by age-standardised net survival for patients diagnosed with oesophageal cancer during 2013-2017 in England.[1]

See also

Cancer survival statistics for common cancers in the UK

References

  1. Office for National Statistics, Cancer survival by stage at diagnosis for England, 2019.

About this data

Data is for England, 2013 - 2017, ICD-10 C15.

Survival statistics give an overall picture of survival and the survival time experienced by an individual patient may be much higher or lower, depending on specific patient and tumour characteristics.

Last reviewed:

Five-year survival for oesophageal cancer decreases with increasing age. Five-year net survival in men ranges from 18% in 50-59 year-olds to 6% in 80-99 year-olds for patients diagnosed with oesophageal cancer in England during 2009-2013.[1] In women, five-year survival ranges from 28% to 4% in the same age groups.

Oesophageal Cancer (C15), Five-Year Net Survival by Age, England, 2009-2013

See also

Oesophageal cancer incidence statistics by age

Oesophageal cancer mortality statistics by age

Cancer survival statistics by age for all cancers in the UK

References

  1. Office for National Statistics. Cancer survival in England: adults diagnosed in 2009 to 2013, followed up to 2014. Newport: ONS; 2015.

About this data

Data is for: England, 2009-2013, ICD-10 C15

Last reviewed:

As with most cancers, survival for oesophageal cancer is improving. One-year age-standardised Open a glossary item net survival for oesophageal cancer in men has increased from 15% during 1971-1972 to 44% during 2010-2011 in England and Wales – an absolute survival difference Open a glossary item of 29 percentage points.[1] In women, one-year survival has increased from 16% to 38% over the same time period (a difference of 23 percentage points).

Oesophageal Cancer (C15), Age-standardised One-Year Net Survival, Adults (Aged 15-99), England and Wales, 1971-2011

Five- and ten-year survival has increased by a lesser amount than one-year survival since the early 1970s. Five-year age-standardised net survival for oesophageal cancer in men has increased from 4% during 1971-1972 to a predicted survival of 16% during 2010-2011 in England and Wales – an absolute survival difference of 11 percentage points.[1] In women, five-year survival has increased from 5% to 15% over the same time period (a difference of 10 percentage points).

Oesophageal Cancer (C15), Age-Standardised Five-Year Net Survival, Adults (Aged 15-99), England and Wales, 1971-2011

Five-year survival for 2010-2011 is predicted using an excess hazard statistical model

Ten-year age-standardised net survival for oesophageal cancer in men has increased from 3% during 1971-1972 to a predicted survival of 12% during 2010-2011 in England and Wales – an absolute survival difference of 9 percentage points.[1] In women, ten-year survival has increased from 4% to 13% over the same time period (a difference of 9 percentage points). Overall, more than 1 in 10 people diagnosed with oesophageal cancer today are predicted to survive their disease for at least ten years.

Oesophageal Cancer (C15), Age-Standardised Ten-Year Net Survival, Adults (Aged 15-99), England and Wales, 1971-2011

Ten-year survival for 2005-2006 and 2010-2011 is predicted using an excess hazard statistical model

See also

Oesophageal cancer incidence trends over time

Oesophageal cancer mortality trends over time

Cancer survival statistics for common cancers in the UK

References

  1. Data were provided by London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine on request, 2014.

About this data

Data is for: England and Wales, 1971-2011, ICD-10 C15

Last reviewed:

Survival for oesophageal cancer is strongly related to stage of the disease at diagnosis.

One-year net survival by stage

One-year net survival for oesophageal cancer is highest for patients diagnosed at Stage 1, and lowest for those diagnosed at Stage 4, as 2013-2017 data for England show.[1] 84% of patients diagnosed at Stage 1 survived their disease for at least one year, compared to 21% of patients diagnosed at Stage 4.[1]

One year net survival for unknown or missing stage is 41%. Lack of staging information may in some cases reflect advanced stage at diagnosis as very unwell patients may not undergo staging tests if the invasiveness of the testing outweighs the potential benefit of obtaining stage information. Incomplete staging assessment may also be associated with socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of the patient [2]. Stage completeness for oesophageal cancer was 82% in 2013-2017 [1].

For patients diagnosed at stage 2 and 4, one-year net survival is similar for females and males. One-year net survival is significantly lower for females than males in stages 1 and 3, with an absolute survival difference of 6 percentage points for stage 1 and a 4 percentage points difference for stage 3.

Oesophageal cancer one-year net survival by stage, with incidence by stage (all data: adults diagnosed 2013-2017, followed up to 2018)

Five-year net survival by stage

Five-year net survival for patients with oesophageal cancer shows a difference in survival between Stages 2 and 3, five-year net survival ranges from 30% at Stage 2 to 16% at Stage 3 for patients diagnosed during 2013-2017 in England.[1] When comparing survival at stage 2 between the sexes it was similar. Data for individual sexes and other stages is not available for comparison.

Oesophageal cancer five-year net survival by stage, with incidence by stage (all data: adults diagnosed 2013-2017, followed up to 2018)

References

  1. Office for National Statistics, Cancer survival by stage at diagnosis for England, 2019.
  2. Girolamo, C. et al, Characteristics of patients with missing information on stage: a population-based study of patients diagnosed with a colon, lung or breast cancer in England in 2013, BMC Cancer (2018) 18:492

About this data

Data is for: England, 2013 - 2017, ICD-10 C15.

Survival statistics give an overall picture of survival but the survival time experienced by an individual patient may be much higher or lower, depending on specific patient and tumour characteristics.

Last reviewed:

Five-year relative survival for oesophageal cancer in men in England (12%) is similar to the average for Europe (12%). Wales (13%) and Scotland (11%) are also similar to the European average but Northern Ireland (15%) is above the European average.[1] Across the European countries for which data is available, five-year relative survival in men ranges from 4% (Lithuania) to 21% (Belgium).[1]

Five-year relative survival for oesophageal cancer in women in England (15%) is similar to the average for Europe (15%). Wales (15%) is also similar to the European average but Scotland (11%) is below the European average.[1] No five-year survival data is available for Northern Ireland. Across the European countries for which data is available, five-year relative survival in women ranges from 9% (Latvia) to 25% (Belgium).[1]

Oesophageal Cancer (C15), Age-Standardised Five-Year Relative Survival, Adults (Aged 15+), European Countries, 2000-2007

Data consists of both observed and predicted 5-year relative survival. Where sufficient follow-up was not available for recently diagnosed patients the period approach was used to predict 5-year cohort survival.

Possible explanations for persistent international differences in survival include differences in cancer biology, use of diagnostic tests and screening, stage at diagnosis, access to high-quality care, and data collection practices.[1]

See also

Cancer diagnosis and treatment

Oesophageal cancer incidence

References

  1. De Angelis R, Sant M, Coleman MP, et al. Cancer survival in Europe 1999-2007 by country and age: results of EUROCARE-5 - a population-based study. Lancet Oncol 2014;15:23-34

About this data

Data is for: 29 European countries, patients diagnosed in 2000-2007 and followed up to 2008, oesophageal cancer (C15).

Last reviewed:

Cancer stats explained

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Cancer stats explained

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the many organisations across the UK which collect, analyse, and share the data which we use, and to the patients and public who consent for their data to be used. Find out more about the sources which are essential for our statistics.