The five-year relative survival rate for all cancers combined improved from 49.7 percent in 1975 to 51 percent in the early 1980s to 60 percent in the 1990s. It is hoped that more qualitative information about survivors can be gleaned from a cancer control supplement to the Year 2000 NHIS, which will collect important data on survivorship, family history, genetic testing, quality of life, physical activity, dietary practices, and tobacco use. Patterns of cancer survival by diagnosis are also changing. It has been estimated from data in the 1992 NHIS that gynecologic cancer survivors constitute the largest proportion of the survivorship population. SEER data show breast cancer survivors are the largest group, followed by prostate cancer survivors.
Cancer takes an economic and emotional toll on survivors and their families.
For example, the 1992 NHIS data showed that 18 percent of survivors interviewed reported employment problems because of their cancer, while about 11 percent said they had been denied health or life insurance coverage. Focus of Research OCS currently supports 42 research grants addressing the physical, psychological, social, economic, surveillance, and epidemiological aspects of cancer and its treatment. Priority research for the future focuses on interventions to prevent or diminish subsequent adverse physical or psychosocial effects, such as sexual problems and development of second cancers. Such studies may also measure the effect of specific behavioral or medical interventions on subsequent health outcomes or health practices, including education strategies, health related beliefs and behaviors, and lifestyle influences. Survivorship studies under way are gathering evidence on pivotal areas affecting the health and quality of life of cancer survivors, particularly among those diagnosed more than five years ago, and will attempt to fill some of the current gaps in knowledge.