Five-year relative survival from prostate, breast, colorectal and lung cancer.

OBJECTIVES This article presents five-year relative survival rates for prostate, breast, colorectal and lung cancer diagnosed in 1992. Provincial variations are also examined. DATA SOURCES Data are from the Canadian Cancer Registry, the National Cancer Incidence Reporting System, the Canadian Mortality Data Base, and life tables. ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES Analysis was conducted using the maximum likelihood method of Estève. Provincial rates were standardized to the age distribution of patients diagnosed with the specific cancer. Statistical tests were conducted to determine if the site-specific age-standardized provincial relative survival rates should be regarded as heterogeneous. (National estimates exclude Québec.) MAIN RESULTS Five-year relative survival rates for ages 15 to 99 were highest for prostate cancer (88%) and lowest for lung cancer (17%, women; 14%, men). Relative survival rates for prostate, breast and male lung cancer differ among provinces. There was little inter-provincial variation in relative survival rates for colorectal cancer.