Children's cancers survival statistics

Survival

Survive children's cancers for 5 or more years, 2012-16, UK

Improvement

Children's cancers survival (10 or more years) in the UK has more than doubled between the 1970s and 2000s

 

84% of people diagnosed with cancer in childhood in the UK survive for at least five years, as shown by population-based survival for patients diagnosed in 2012-2016.[1] This falls to 80% surviving for at least 10 years, for people diagnosed in 2007-2011. England figures for people diagnosed more recently are in line with this.[2]

Survival among people diagnosed with cancer in childhood continues to fall beyond ten years after diagnosis. 76% of people diagnosed in 2002-2006 survived for 15 years or more, and 72% of those diagnosed in 1997-2001 survived for at least 20 years.[1] Again, England figures for people diagnosed in more recent years are in line with this.[2]

Survivors of childhood cancer have higher than expected mortality in adulthood compared with the general population, though the extent of this excess mortality has decreased over time.[3]

Children’s Cancers, Five-, Ten-, Fifteen-, and Twenty-Year Population-Based Survival, Ages 0-14, UK, 1997-2016

See also

See our new Children and Young People's Cancers Incidence and Survival Interactive Dashboard for data broken down by diagnostic group, UK nation, sex and age group

Cancer survival statistics for all ages

Actuarial survival and life tables

References

  1. National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service. Children, teenagers and young adults UK cancer statistics report 2021. Available from http://ncin.org.uk/cancer_type_and_topic_specific_work/cancer_type_specific_work/cancer_in_children_teenagers_and_young_adults/. Accessed April 2021.
  2. Office for National Statistics. Childhood cancer survival in England. Available from https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/datasets/childhoodcancersurvivalinengland. Accessed April 2021.
  3. Fidler MM, Reulen RC, Winter DL, Kelly J, Jenkinson HC, Skinner R, Frobisher C, Hawkins MM. Long term cause specific mortality among 34 489 five year survivors of childhood cancer in Great Britain: population based cohort study. BMJ 2016; 354: i4351.

About this data

Data is for UK, 1997-2016, International Classification of Childhood Cancer, Third Edition (ICCC-3).

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:

One-, five- and ten-year survival for all childhood cancers combined does not differ significantly between 0-4, 5-9 and 10-14 year-olds.[1]

Children’s Cancers, Smoothed One-, Five- and Ten-Year Survival, By Age, England, 2018

  1-year survival 5-year survival 10-year survival
Age 0-4 90.5 86.7 81.3
Age 5-9 96.2 85.8 81.0
Age 10-14 95.3 83.9 81.0

 

See also

Want more detailed cancer incidence and survival statistics across the UK? Explore our Children and Young People's Cancers Data Hub

Cancer survival statistics for all ages

References

  1. Office for National Statistics. Childhood cancer survival in England. Available from https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/datasets/childhoodcancersurvivalinengland. Accessed October 2020

About this data

Data is for England, 2018, ICD-10 C00-C43, C45-C76, C80-97, D33 and D43.

All children's cancers includes all malignant tumours (ICD-10 codes: C00-C97), and all benign/uncertain or unknown behaviour brain, other central nervous system and intracranial tumours (ICD-10 codes: D32-D33, D35.2-D35.4, D42-D43 and D44.3-D44.5).

Last reviewed:

As with most cancers, survival for children’s cancers is improving. Five-year population-based survival for children’s cancers in the UK increased from 77% in 1997-2001 to 84% in 2012-2016.[1] Before this, five-year actuarial survival for children’s cancers in Great Britain increased from 40% in 1971-1975 to 76% in 1996-2000, again with most of the progress made in the 1970s and 1980s.[2] England figures for people diagnosed between 2000 and 2018 are in line with these results.[3]

Ten-year population-based survival for children’s cancers in the UK increased from 74% in 1997-2001 to 80% in 2007-2011.[1] Previously, ten-year actuarial survival for children’s cancers in Great Britain increased from 36% in 1971-1975 to 73% in 1996-2000, again with the biggest improvements made in the 1970s and 1980s.[4] England figures for people diagnosed between 2000 and 2018 are in line with these estimates.[3]

Children’s Cancers (C00-C43, C45-C76, C80-97, D33 and D43), Five- and Ten-Year Population-Based Survival, Ages 0-14, Great Britain (1971-1975 to 1996-2000) and UK (1997-2001 to 2012-2016)

See also

See our new Children and Young People's Cancers Incidence and Survival Interactive Dashboard for data broken down by diagnostic group, UK nation, sex and age group

Cancer survival statistics for all ages

Actuarial survival and life tables

References

  1. National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service. Children, teenagers and young adults UK cancer statistics report 2021. Available from http://ncin.org.uk/cancer_type_and_topic_specific_work/cancer_type_specific_work/cancer_in_children_teenagers_and_young_adults/. Accessed April 2021.
  2. National Cancer Intelligence Network. National Registry of Childhood Tumours Progress Report, 2012. Available from http://ncin.org.uk/cancer_type_and_topic_specific_work/cancer_type_specific_work/cancer_in_children_teenagers_and_young_adults/. Accessed April 2021.
  3. Office for National Statistics. Childhood cancer survival in England. Available from https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/datasets/childhoodcancersurvivalinengland. Accessed April 2021.
  4. Ten-year actuarial survival, children aged 0-14 years, Great Britain, 1971-2005 data were provided by Charles Stiller at the National Registry of Childhood Tumours on request in 2013.

About this data

Data is for UK, 1997-2016, International Classification of Childhood Cancer, Third Edition (ICCC-3); and Great Britain, 1971-2010, ICD-10 C00-C97, D32-D33, D35.2-D35.4, D42-D43, D44.3-D44.5.

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:

Survival for children’s cancers varies considerably between diagnostic groups.[1]

Children’s Cancers By Diagnostic Group, Population-Based Five-Year Survival, Ages 0-14, UK, 2012-2016

There is also marked variation within these broad diagnostic groups.[1]

Children’s Leukaemias By Diagnostic Subgroup, Population-Based Five-Year Survival, Ages 0-14, UK, 2012-2016

Children’s Lymphomas By Diagnostic Subgroup, Population-Based Five-Year Survival, Ages 0-14, UK, 2012-2016

Children’s Brain and Spinal Tumours By Diagnostic Subgroup, Population-Based Five-Year Survival, Ages 0-14, UK, 2012-2016

Survival has increased for all diagnostic groups since the early 1970s, but by varying amounts and at different points in time.[1,2] Much of the progress can be attributed to the advent of combination chemotherapy in the late 1960s and 1970s, and for many diagnostic groups, improvements in survival coincide with eras of entry into clinical trials.[3]

Children’s Cancers by Diagnostic Group, Population-Based Five-Year Survival, Ages 0-14, Great Britain (1971-1975 to 1996-2000) and UK (1997-2001 to 2012-2016)

 

See also

See our new Children and Young People's Cancers Incidence and Survival Interactive Dashboard for data broken down by diagnostic group, UK nation, sex and age group

Cancer survival statistics for all ages

References

  1. National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service. Children, teenagers and young adults UK cancer statistics report 2021. Available from http://ncin.org.uk/cancer_type_and_topic_specific_work/cancer_type_specific_work/cancer_in_children_teenagers_and_young_adults/. Accessed April 2021.
  2. National Cancer Intelligence Network. National Registry of Childhood Tumours Progress Report, 2012. Available from http://ncin.org.uk/cancer_type_and_topic_specific_work/cancer_type_specific_work/cancer_in_children_teenagers_and_young_adults. Accessed April 2021.
  3. Stiller CA, Kroll ME, Pritchard-Jones K. Population survival from childhood cancer in Britain during 1978-2005 by eras of entry to clinical trials

     

About this data

Data is for UK, 1997-2016, International Classification of Childhood Cancer, Third Edition (ICCC-3); and Great Britain, 1971-2010, ICD-10 C00-C97, D32-D33, D35.2-D35.4, D42-D43, D44.3-D44.5.

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:

In 2005-07, age-standardised five-year survival for all cancers combined in children in the UK and Ireland (78%) was similar to the average for Europe (79%). [1]

See also

Find out more about the counting and coding of this data

Cancer survival statistics for all ages

References

  1. Gatta G, Botta L, Rossi S, et al. Childhood cancer survival in Europe 1999-2007: results of EUROCARE-5--a population-based study. Lancet Oncol 2014;15(1):35-47

About this data

See source for ICD codes and other data specifics.

Last reviewed:

Cancer stats explained

See information and explanations on terminology used for statistics and reporting of cancer, and the methods used to calculate some of our statistics.

Cancer stats explained

Citation

You are welcome to reuse this Cancer Research UK content for your own work.
Credit us as authors by referencing Cancer Research UK as the primary source. Suggested styles are:

Web content: Cancer Research UK, full URL of the page, Accessed [month] [year].
Publications: Cancer Research UK ([year of publication]), Name of publication, Cancer Research UK.
Graphics (when reused unaltered): Credit: Cancer Research UK.
Graphics (when recreated with differences): Based on a graphic created by Cancer Research UK.

When Cancer Research UK material is used for commercial reasons, we encourage a donation to our life-saving research.
Send a cheque payable to Cancer Research UK to: Cancer Research UK, 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ or

Donate Online 

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.