Cancer facts and figures
Incidence of cancer in the UK
Around 309,500 people are diagnosed with cancer in the UK each year.
Deaths from cancer in the UK
There are approximately 156,700 cancer-related deaths in the UK each year. The breakdown of deaths by cancer type is shown in the table below:
Proportion of total cancer deaths by type
(Top 10 cancers)
Source: Cancer Research UK
| Cancer type | Percentage of total cancer deaths |
| Lung | 22% |
| Bowel | 10.3% |
| Breast | 7.7% |
| Prostate | 6.5% |
| Pancreatic | 5% |
| Oesophageal | 4.8% |
| Stomach | 3.3% |
| Bladder | 3.2% |
| Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma | 2.8% |
| Leukaemia | 2.8% |
Survival rates
Overall, around 50% of people diagnosed with a form of cancer now survive for 5 years or more (the 'five year survival rate'). But there are over 200 different types of cancer, and underpinning this 50% average is a very mixed picture of survival rates depending on the cancer type.
For example:
- For breast cancer, the 5 year survival rate is 80%
- For prostate cancer, the 5 year survival rate is 70%
- With lung cancer, the 5 year survival rate is 7%
- With pancreatic cancer, the 5 year survival rate is 3%
Improvements in survival rates also vary considerably, with some cancers showing significant improvement in survival rates over time. The 5 year survival rate for pancreatic cancer has not changed in 40 years.
Comparison of cancers by survival rates
|
Cancer type |
Current 5 year |
1970s 5 year |
|
Testicular |
98% |
69% |
|
Breast |
80% |
50% |
|
Prostate |
70% |
30% |
|
Cervical |
66% |
52% |
|
Bladder |
61.5% |
43% |
|
Bowel |
50% |
25% |
|
Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma |
50% |
30% |
|
Leukaemia |
41% |
12% |
|
Ovarian |
40% |
23% |
|
Stomach |
15% |
5% |
|
Oesophageal |
8% |
3% |
|
Lung |
7% |
4% |
|
Pancreatic |
3% |
3% |
Funding for research by cancer type
How much is spent on research for each type of cancer? This is a difficult question to answer, because funding comes from a variety of sources - some from government, some from the charitable sector and some from the pharmaceutical industry.
The most recent survey of the spending on cancer research shows that around £393 million was spent in 2006 by the major funding bodies from the sectors mentioned above.
The survey also shows that the levels of spending on different types of cancer can vary significantly, even where they have similar mortality rates:
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