CANCER survival is improving on Merseyside, according to new figures.
The Office for National Statistics released data showing 63.5% of sufferers in Liverpool were alive one year after diagnosis in 2009. This compares to 55.9% in 1996. However, this is still below the English average of 66.5%.
Survival for lung cancer overall has increased in Merseyside. Five-year survival for men increased from 8.6% in 2001 to 9.2% in 2005.
However, one-year survival in men has fallen from 28.5% in 2005 to 26% in 2009.
Paula Chadwick, interim chief executive of the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation, said: “We are pleased to see that, in general, lung cancer survival rates are moving in the right direction.
“This may be for a variety of reasons, including the fact that more people are being diagnosed earlier, when treatment options, such as surgery, are still an option.”
