TORONTO — Statistics Canada says five-year survival rates for people with lung cancer have doubled since the 1990s.
The report released today says the number of people living five years after they were diagnosed jumped from 13 per cent to 27 per cent between 1992 and 2021.
It says new treatments, including immunotherapy that prompts the patient’s immune system to attack cancerous cells, have contributed to better lung cancer survival rates.
But lung cancer is still responsible for almost a quarter of all cancer deaths in Canada — more than any other type.
StatCan says the cancers with a five-year survival rate of 90 per cent or higher include thyroid, testicular, prostate and breast cancers, as well as melanoma skin cancer.
It says cancers with the lowest survival rates of under 1