WHERE WE ARE

Background Complete prevalence – including all people living with and beyond a cancer – relies on population-based cancer registries (CRs) data and on specifc statistical methods to compensate the limited follow-up observations. The latest cancer prevalence estimates allow to quantify and characterise cancer survivors by sex, cancer type, age, disease duration and country in Europe 2020. Materials and methods Incidence and follow-up data up to 2013 from 61 European CRs and 29 countries (23 with national registration coverage) were analysed with uniform methodology in the context of the EUROCARE-6 study. Prevalence measures were projected to Jan 1st, 2020, using linear regression models. Results In 2020, 23.7 million people (5% of the population) were estimated to be alive after a cancer diagnosis in Europe. Among them the majority were women (55%) and people aged over 65 years (65%). Long-term cancer survivors, living more than 10 years after diagnosis, were 9.1 million, 38% of all prevalent cases. Their proportion is much higher (62-74%) for tumours with young age at onset or good prognosis. The number of cancer survivors increased by 41% in the period 2010-2020 in Europe, with an annual average increase of 3.5%. The number of long-term survivors increased by 50% overall. Complete cancer prevalence in 2020 varied remarkably by country in Europe, especially for cancers with strong incidence dynamics. Complete cancer prevalence measures can be combined with cure indicators to identify prevalent cases that are no more at risk of dying from cancer. Time to cure below 10 years is reported for many common cancers and within 1 year for early stage colorectal cancers and female breast. Conclusions Complete and detailed cancer prevalence estimates at country level in Europe are increasingly needed to inform evidence-based policies for tertiary prevention and comprehensive rehabilitation throughout the entire disease journey.