Survival rates for cancer-stricken children in UK dramatically increased in past 15 years

London: Latest figures released by by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveals the more children who have been diagnosed with cancer are surviving ever than before.

The new findings indicate that the survival rates have dramatically increased in the past 15 years.

The ONS report issued on Wednesday showed that for all childhood cancers combined, the general trend of increasing five-year survival has continued for children (0 to 14 years) diagnosed between 1990 and 2014, Xinhua news agency reported.

For children diagnosed with cancer in 1990, the five-year survival was 67.3 per cent, while five-year survival is predicted to be 83.9 per cent for children diagnosed with cancer in 2015.

A similar increasing trend was observed for 10-year survival, added the report.

ONS said the increases in 5-year and 10-year survival rates have been observed in each of the age groups 0 to 4 years, 5 to 9 years and 10 to 14 years.

The statistics were collected by the National Cancer Registration Service at Public Health England, produced in partnership with the Cancer Survival Group at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

ONS report said the most common cancers in children are leukaemias and malignant neoplasms of the brain.

It added the increases in survival are likely to be because of improvements in treatment and supportive care.

(With IANS inputs)