Trends in survival for patients with lung cancer in Japan, 2000–14 (CONCORD-3)

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide. To aid the development of lung cancer control strategies, we analyzed trends in lung cancer survival using data from 16 population-based cancer registries in Japan that participated in the CONCORD-3 study. We included patients aged 15-99 years diagnosed with lung cancer between 2000 and 2014 and followed up until 31 December 2014. A total of 5-year net survival was estimated using the Pohar Perme estimator, stratified by calendar period, age group, sex, histological subtype, and stage. All-ages estimates were standardized with the International Cancer Survival Standard weights. Age-standardized 5-year net survival in 339 277 patients with lung cancer increased slightly over time, from 29.3% (95% confidence intervals 28.1%-30.5%) for patients diagnosed during 2000-2004 to 32.9% (32.3%-33.4%) in 2010-2014. Five-year net survival improved particularly for young patients (15-44 years), for women diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer and with localized disease. We observed limited or no survival improvement for patients diagnosed with small-cell lung cancer or with distant disease. In Japan, 5-year net survival for patients with lung cancer improved slightly over the 15 years 2000-2014, but no improvement was observed for patients with small-cell lung cancer or with distant disease. Continued surveillance of cancer survival is essential to guide cancer control efforts and further improve treatment outcomes.