Survival from cancer of the pancreas in England and Wales up to 2001

Cancer of the pancreas accounts for some 3% of cancer in both sexes combined, with about 6000 new cases a year ( Cooper et al, 2005 ). The only established risk factor for pancreatic cancer is tobacco smoking ( Lowenfels, 1984 ). Incidence has fallen some 10–15% since the mid-1970s in men but has risen slightly in women, and annual incidence in both sexes is now similar at about 10 per 100 000 ( Quinn et al, 2001 ). Both incidence and mortality rates may be biased, however, by under-registration of incident cases and an over-certification of deaths ( Remontet et al, 2003 ). In this context, the survival of patients who were registered with a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer in life assumes particular importance as a measure of outcome. Pancreatic cancer has one of the worst prognoses: the European mean relative 5-year survival rate for patients diagnosed during 1990–1994 was less than 4% ( Sant et al, 2003 ).