Is the stand up to cancer stat really true?

[JKDcot]

I remember when it used to be 1 in 4 of us will get cancer. Now the stand up to cancer stat is saying 1 in 2? I know lots of people are affected by cancer but is this really true? This is awful if so

As someone that was diagnosed with breast cancer 2 years ago I was quoted 1 in 2 and have met too many people with this horrific disease whether breast cancer or otherwise.

I can believe it, and I'm not sure how awful it is, tbh. I think part of the increase has been because people are surviving other illnesses (which in the past would have killed them) and, basically, if you live long enough then you're quite likely to have some form of cancer. Also, although cancer is a frightening word, it takes many different forms and some of them aren't actually that bad, if caught in time. I've had breast cancer that involved a lot of treatment and ongoing problems, and I've had several close relatives die from cancer, but I've also had one who had a non-spreading tumour, which involved one night in hospital after it was removed and then no further treatment.

I hope that didn't sound glib or blasé, I'm well aware of the heartbreak of watching someone slowly die, but I think it's important to remember that the worst case scenario isn't the ONLY one.

It is true. But it's also true that of those who get cancer, 1 in 2 will survive. And like pp said, it's because we're living longer in general.

The statistic is true. There's a huge amount of different types of cancer and we only ever seem to hear about the extreme cases. When I was diagnosed with breast cancer I was amazed by the number of people, who I known for a while, that told me about their cancer treatment they'd had a while back. We assume everyone who gets cancer dies from it, whereas huge numbers are treated then get on with their lives.

I listened to a podcast once where they explored this figure and it isn't actually as scary as it sounds. I can't remember the details helpfully, but I think it basically comes down to people living longer and dying of fewer other causes.

I think it's true but massively weighted by the high numbers in older people - a huge percentage of men over 80 something will develop prostate cancer, for example.

So something like 80% of 80 yr old men have prostate cancer, which may not be clinically significant compared with other medical issues. It would be useful to see the stat for women and exclude those cases.

Yes, as others say a huge portion of that is people developing cancer in old age.

also as a pp said cancer doesn’t always mean chemo and long hospital stays, people also develop small tumours which are non life threatening and easily removed by an operation. There are about 200 different types of cancer so it’s a very varied disease.

Unfortunately there have also been huge increases in lifestyle related cancers. Alcohol is a factor as is diet.

Yes but there are loads and loads of very treatable cancers.

If you look at the graph here of cancers with proprotion survival >5 years that's a lot of cancers. For most people survival >5 years actually means cure although for a smaller proprotion it will mean living with it and having treatment.

www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/resource/cancer-survival-rates?gclid=CjwKCAjwoc_8BRAcEiwAzJevtYT043PE8ZmxVR5I9rhugSB5nKI2x_eJjcTuDCtRCvBgoQLGw9L9CRoCbKkQAvD_BwE

Even if you took out all the men with prostate cancer, you would still have loads of women being cured of breast cancer - it would even out.

Cancer by age from here
www.cancerresearchuk.org/health-professional/cancer-statistics/incidence/age#heading-Zero

Remember lots of elderly people have cancer.
My grandpa died aged 94, he had cancer but didn't die of it.
My grandma in her 80's recently died and she had cancer.

I feel as though (I could be wrong) it's very common for elderly people to die with cancer but not from it.

@JKDcot

I remember when it used to be 1 in 4 of us will get cancer. Now the stand up to cancer stat is saying 1 in 2? I know lots of people are affected by cancer but is this really true? This is awful if so

I said to DH last night, I remember when it was one in three.

[quote GreyishDays]Cancer by age from here
www.cancerresearchuk.org/health-professional/cancer-statistics/incidence/age#heading-Zero[/quote]
I don't understand that graph at all.

Maybe have a look at the link as it shows which are numbers (bars) and which are rate by population (the line).

Age is at the bottom.

This any clearer?

It’s too blurry I think. Sorry!

CRUK has been saying more than 1 in 3 since 2015

www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-31096218

28% of deaths in the U.K. are caused by cancer. It is terrifying but as a PP said it is skewed by longer life expectancy. Years ago so many died of things which are now treatable, so we live longer and advancing age is a massive factor in many diseases.

My gran had kidney cancer, she was around 90 when she was diagnosed. Her oncologist told her that old age would get her long before the cancer would.

The move from one in three to one in two is amazing news, it’s a tribute to the phenomenal work done on reducing heart disease and bringing down smoking rates.

Every middle aged man who quits smoking and has his blood pressure treated is another old man who’ll survive long enough to get prostate cancer. (He might have died of cancer if he’d smoked, but he’d have been equally likely to die of heart or other lung disease).

The majority of ninety year olds experience some form of non-melanoma skin cancer, and virtually all of those are treated successfully by routine surgery and radiotherapy.

I don’t begrudge SUTC their fundraising, which I’m sure will go to good causes, but I do think that their use of the headline 1 in 2 figure, which relates to an increase in life expectancy, in conjunction with heart-rending videos about thirty year old mums is pretty disingenuous. I’ve never seen a SUTC video starring anyone over the age of sixty.

It is true. I lost my BIL age 52 4 years ago to it, he never smoked or drunk much but died of liver cancer that reached his lungs. My mum had evasive face/ear surgery last year due to ear cancer that had spread to her tongue, face muscle, ear canal, shoulder muscle and lymph nodes. My uncle died of stomach cancer 6 years ago leaving a son secondary school age due to rubbish gp not diagnosing stomach cancer. My bf got breast cancer age 38! My BIL died of Non-Hodgkin lymphoma which his father also died of. Cancer is the worst it's ever been!

I agree with pp about the SUTC adverts. I had to explain to two very distressed DC last night that these adverts are made to tug on heartstrings to raise money. DH is recovering from cancer treatment at present and these adverts terrified DC.
Definitely disingenuous to choose these particular stories and present in this way.