Cancer survival rates are twice as good as in Seventies

Survival rates for some types of cancer have doubled in the past four decades, it was revealed today.

People with breast, bowel and ovarian cancers, and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, are twice as likely to survive for at least 10 years than in the Seventies, the Cancer Research UK figures show.

Leukaemia survival is now four times as high, although the charity warned there was still much to do.

Professor Peter Johnson, the charity's chief clinician, said: "There are many reasons for our continuing success in the fight against cancer, including faster diagnosis, better surgery, more effective radiotherapy and many new drugs, all developed using the knowledge that our laboratory research has given us."

He said with further investment in research, he expected the trend to continue. The Department of Health said it was "delighted" by the findings. "Improving health outcomes is a key priority for the coalition government and will be a major focus of the forthcoming review of the Cancer Reform Strategy," said Professor Mike Richards, the department's national cancer director.

The figures go back to the early Seventies and include estimated survival rates for the latest diagnoses, made in 2007. In breast cancer, 10-year survival has jumped from less than 40 per cent to a predicted 77 per cent.

Half of people diagnosed with bowel cancer are now expected to survive for at least 10 years compared with 23 per cent. For ovarian cancer and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, survival has increased from 18 to 35 per cent and from 22 to 51 per cent respectively.

However, other cancers have shown little improvement, most notably lung and pancreatic.