For many @entity5 , five-year survival is used as a synonym for cure. For some sites, such as breast, this is inappropriate since there is still considerable excess mortality 5-15 years following diagnosis. We propose using the probability of not dying prematurely as a surrogate for the probability of being cured. This is estimated without the need for information on the cause of @entity204 by comparing all-cause-mortality rates in @entity1 with @entity5 to those in the general population. We also consider the probability of 'cure' in those who have survived a certain number of years since diagnosis. These quantities are estimated for various @entity5 sites using SEER data. The proportion not dying prematurely varies considerably for common @entity5 from 12% for @entity2 to 84% for @entity263 . In @entity1 , the percentage 'cured' for @entity0 are very similar at 56% and 58% respectively, but in those who survive 5 years, they are quite different--91% and 78% respectively. The proposed statistic is useful. For diseases in which excess mortality is primarily within five years of diagnosis, it agrees well with 5-year relative survival. Interpretation of differences between countries or over time is complicated and requires consideration of incidence and mortality data.

Avoidance of premature XXXX : a new definition for the proportion cured.

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['women', 'patients'] @entity263 :: ('MESH:D011471', 'Disease') :: ['prostate cancer'] @entity0 :: ('MESH:D001943', 'Disease') :: ['colon and breast cancer'] @entity5 :: ('MESH:D009369', 'Disease') :: ['cancers', 'cancer'] @entity2 :: ('MESH:D008175', 'Disease') :: ['lung cancer'] @entity204 :: ('MESH:D003643', 'Disease') :: ['death']
@entity204 :: (MESH:D003643,Disease) :: ['death']
