Long-term survival of cancer patients in Germany achieved by the beginning of the third millenium

Background: Over the last decades, long-term survival rates have substantially increased for many forms of cancer. However, these improvements have often been detected with substantial delay by traditional methods of survival analyses. Patients and methods: Using data of the population-based Saarland Cancer Registry, 5- and 10-year relative survival rates were derived for patients with 24 common forms of cancer in Saarland/Germany for the years 2000-2002 by period analysis and compared with conventional cohort estimates of 5- and 10-year relative survival rates pertaining to patients diagnosed in 1990-1992. Results: For many forms of cancer, the 2000-2002 period survival estimates were substantially higher than the corresponding estimates for the cohorts of patients diagnosed in 1990-1992. For example, 10-year relative survival rates achieved in 2000-2002 were close to 100% for patients with testis and thyroid cancer, > 85% for patients with melanomas of the skin, similar to 80% for patients with endometrial cancer and prostate cancer, close to 70% for patients with breast cancer and kidney cancer, and close to 60% for patients with colon cancer and lymphomas. Conclusions: Survival expectations of patients diagnosed with cancer at the beginning of the third millenium are substantially higher than previously available survival statistics have suggested.