Half of Canadians will get cancer in lifetime

New report finds the disease accounts for 30 per cent of all mortality in country

Almost half of all Canadians will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime, the Canadian Cancer Society says in a new report.

Prognoses for cancer patients are improving all the time — some of the most common forms of the disease now have survival rates over 90 per cent. But for conditions like pancreatic cancer, a diagnosis is still virtually a death sentence.

In its latest annual report on cancer statistics, the Canadian Cancer Society tells a tale of progress and stagnation, and the vast disparities between different forms of the illness.

“Cancer is a complicated disease,” said Dr. Robert Nuttall, assistant director of health policy at the Canadian Cancer Society. “It is really a hundred different types of diseases all (grouped) together.”

Cancer is still the leading cause of death in Canada, accounting for more than 30 per cent of all mortality in the country. Heart disease, the second leading cause of death, accounts for less than 20 per cent, according to the report, produced with Statistics Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada and provincial resources.

It’s sobering to think that one in every two Canadians will be diagnosed with cancer at some point, Nuttall said.

“The important thing to remember here is that the biggest driver behind this is the aging population,” he added. “Canadians continue to live longer, and cancer is primarily a disease that affects older Canadians.”

Nearly 90 per cent of all cancer diagnoses in Canada are for people aged 50 or over. About 45 per cent are for people 70 or over.

Overall cancer survival rates are ris- ing all the time.

Defined as the proportion of patients alive five years after their diagnosis, and adjusted for patient age, the survival rate for cancer as a whole is now approximately 60 per cent. In the 1940s, it was just 25 per cent. Cathy Telger, 57, survived diagnoses of malignant melanoma in 1996 and 2007. Both times, the cancer was caught early and doctors were able to treat it by removing moles on her leg, Telfer said.

Her father, now 92, has faced malignant melanoma and survived four times, she added.

Melanoma, like breast cancer and Hodgkin’s lymphoma, has a survival rate of above 85 per cent, according to the Canadian Cancer Society report. Testicular, thyroid and prostate cancers have survival rates of 95 per cent or more.

Not all cancer diagnoses come with such a positive prognosis.

The survival rate for pancreatic cancer is one of the lowest of any form of the disease.

The Canadian Cancer Society estimates that 5,500 Canadians will get pancreatic cancer in 2017. Only about half of them will be expected to survive longer than four months.

Pancreatic cancer can be resistant to chemotherapy and other forms of cancer treatment, Nuttall said. It will take more research to understand how better to detect and treat.

Even when it comes to forms of cancer with very high survival rates, more work is needed to decrease the incidence, Grunfeld said.

An estimated 40 to 50 per cent of cancer cases could be prevented through actions like quitting smoking, getting more exercise, improving diet, practicing sun safety and doing a better job of screening for the illness, she added.

It’s those lifestyle choices that can play a major role in ensuring fewer people ever have to deal with cancer, no matter how good the prognosis, Grunfeld said.