New research by Cancer Council Queensland has found the prognosis for Queensland cancer patients generally improves with each additional year that they survive.

The research, published in the Medical Journal of Australia, could help to provide patients with more accurate estimates of their survival prospects, if the estimates are routinely included in cancer statistical reports.

Cancer Council Queensland (CCQ) lead researcher, Associate Professor Peter Baade (above), says the findings are encouraging for Queenslanders affected by cancer.

“One of the most common unmet psychological needs cancer survivors report is fear that their cancer will recur and this fear can diminish the survivor’s quality of life.

“A clearer understanding that survival after cancer improves year on year may help patients feel more hopeful about the future, and potentially decrease their anxiety.”

A/Prof Baade says it was important for doctors to help cancer patients understand that the further they progress from the time of diagnosis, the greater their chance of long-term survival.

“Conditional survival estimates provide quantitative data for what is often observed anecdotally in clinical settings – that there are some patients who survive beyond what was predicted at the time of their diagnosis, and that the long-term prognosis for these patients continues to improve.

“This is critical information for cancer survivors to receive and understand and it is important that these data are incorporated into routine statistical reports.

“Providing patients with this knowledge would be an effective way of building realistic hope and helping people to manage uncertainty about the future.”

The research paper is the latest work to be reported by CCQ’s researchers, who had more than 40 peer-reviewed scientific papers published in leading national and international journals in 2010, on the eve of our 50th Anniversary.