THE number of Scots surviving the four most common cancers has soared during the last 20 years due to earlier detection and better treatment, according to a leading medical charity.
Cancer Research UK said mortality rates for the biggest killers - breast, bowel, lung and prostate cancer - which together account for almost half of all cancer deaths in the UK, have fallen on average by 25 per cent.
The charity said the advances highlighted the impact of research in developing improved diagnosis techniques and treatments.
It revealed that death rates for breast cancer fell by 33 per cent, bowel cancer by 30 per cent, lung cancer by 23 per cent and prostate cancer by 11 per cent.
Samantha Cahill, 32, from Glasgow, who survived breast cancer after being diagnosed in February last year, said that 20 years ago her prognosis may have been a lot different. Ms Cahill, 32, a maths teacher and mother-of-two, added: "Getting through cancer is tough. The hardest thing is living with fear."
But while more people are surviving the "big four", the charity added that not all cancer death rates have dropped.
Mortality rates for liver, pancreatic, melanoma, oral and some digestive cancers have all increased.
As it launches a new TV fundraising campaign today, a spokeswoman for Cancer Research UK said the disease still claimed too many lives. Lisa Adams said: "The latest figures highlight the good news, that research continues to save lives from cancer, and offer hope that this progress will continue.
"But while the death rate for the four biggest cancer killers falls, it's vital to remember that we need to do more to help bring even better results over the coming years.
"There are more than 200 different forms of the disease. For some of these, the advances are less impressive, such as pancreatic, oesophageal and liver cancer. Far too many lives continue to be affected by the disease."
Scientists have been responsible for improving detection in breast cancer through screening and have also developed more specialist care and better treatments - such as improved surgery, radiotherapy and drugs like tamoxifen and, more recently, anastrozole and letrozole.
About 1,300 people died of breast cancer per year in Scotland 20 years ago, compared with 1,000 currently. Almost 200 fewer Scots die from bowel cancer every year than 20 years ago and the recent introduction of bowel cancer screening is likely to further reduce deaths.
Improvements in treatment - including surgery, hormone therapy, and radiotherapy - as well as earlier diagnosis, are thought to have contributed to the trend of reduced prostate cancer death rates.
The lung cancer story is double-edged. Research first revealed the deadly link between smoking and lung cancer 60 years ago, leading to fewer people smoking and an overall decline in mortality rates. But smoking rates began to fall later in women than in men, leading to an increase in death rates of lung cancer in women.
Cancer Research UK's new TV campaign, We Will Beat Cancer Sooner, urges viewers to help raise funds to fight the disease.
Last year Cancer Research UK spent about £34 million on scientific and clinical research.
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: "We welcome these figures from Cancer Research UK.
"We have been making good progress in cancer treatment during the last two decades -screening for breast, bowel and cervical cancers have been introduced, and cancer is being diagnosed and treated earlier thanks to advances in treatments and investment in staff and equipment."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article