Some of the rise is due to the aging population; the risk of the most common cancers, including breast, prostate and lung, increases with age, and the researchers estimate that two-thirds of cancer survivors will be over the age of 65 in 2020. But advances in early detection and treatment are also contributing to helping people are live longer after diagnosis.
Using two government-funded databases, the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results Program and the U.S. Census Bureau’s population projections, the scientists estimate that women with breast cancer will make up 22% of cancer survivors in coming decades, while men with prostate cancer will make-up another 20%. Patients with lung cancer, however, may account for only 3% of survivors, reflecting still-nascent efforts to successfully treat the disease.
While the survival trend is encouraging, it may come at a price. Cancer survivors generally have twice the annual medical costs that patients without cancer do, because of they need routine monitoring for recurring tumors, as well as for side effects from their treatment or long term effects of their disease. Cancer drug shortages are also becoming more common, and the high demand for cancer-related care could overwhelm the current supply of oncologists. “The growing number of older survivors also presents a unique challenge to the healthcare system because older cancer survivors are more likely to have multiple chronic diseases and tend to experience poorer physical functioning than younger survivors,” the authors write.