Peer-reviewed article
Trends in net survival for 1,834,894 patients with cancer from 16 population-based cancer registries in Japan, 2000-14 (CONCORD-3).
Sugiyama H, Di Carlo V, Matz M, Oki I, Shibata A et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This is a peer-reviewed study of cancer survival trends in Japan from 2000-2014, analyzing data from 16 population-based cancer registries covering over 1.8 million patients. The study found improvements in five-year net survival for several cancers including brain tumors, ovarian cancer, and stomach cancer, while pancreatic cancer survival remained very low. Japan showed higher survival rates than Western countries for esophageal, liver, and lung cancers. The research is part of the CONCORD-3 international cancer surveillance initiative.
Key points
- Five-year net survival improved for brain tumors (27.9% to 46.3%), ovarian cancer (35.5% to 46.3%), stomach cancer (50.5% to 60.3%), and several blood cancers between 2000-04 and 2010-14
- Breast cancer, childhood lymphoma, and prostate cancer showed consistently high survival rates of 85.9%-93.0%
- Pancreatic cancer survival remained very low at 6.9%-8.3%
- Japan had better survival outcomes than Western countries for esophageal, liver, and lung cancers
- Survival for melanoma, hematologic malignancies, and childhood cancers was lower in Japan compared to Western countries
Limitations
This study focuses on cancer survival trends in the general adult and child population diagnosed with specific cancer types; it does not evaluate an intervention or provide insights into the determinants of survival disparities or mechanisms underlying the improvements observed. The analysis is observational and cannot establish causation for the survival improvements documented.
Abstract
Background In 2018, CONCORD-3 updated long-term surveillance of cancer survival trends worldwide. In this monograph, we conducted further analyses and examined trends in net survival using the Japanese data during 2000-14. Methods Sixteen population-based cancer registries in Japan contributed data to CONCORD-3 with anonymized individual records on 2 237 861 patients diagnosed with one of 15 adult cancers (15-99 years), and brain tumors and hematological malignancies in children (0-14 years). Five-year net survival was estimated with the Pohar Perme estimator and age-standardized with International Cancer Survival Standard weights. We estimated survival for three calendar periods, by age group, sex, anatomic site or morphology, and by stage at diagnosis. Results Five-year net survival improved between 2000-04 and 2010-14 for several cancers, including brain tumors (27.9%-46.3%), ovarian cancer (35.5%-46.3%), stomach cancer (50.5%-60.3%), lymphoid malignancies (47.5%-57.3%), myeloid malignancies (24.8%-33.3%), and esophageal cancer (27.7%-36.0%). Breast cancer, childhood lymphoma, and prostate cancer showed consistently high or improving survival (85.9%-93.0%). In contrast, survival for melanoma remained unchanged. Net survival was low for pancreatic cancer (6.9%-8.3%). Among selected countries, survival was higher in Japan for esophageal (36.0%), liver (30.1%), and lung cancers (32.9%). Survival for melanoma, hematologic malignancies, and childhood cancers was lower in Japan than in Western countries. Conclusions Net survival in Japan improved substantially for several cancers, but survival for pancreatic cancer remained low. International collaboration is crucial to accelerate the development of effective cancer control strategies.