China's cancer survival rate 30.9%, lower for rural patients

A new study has found that the five-year survival rate of cancer patients in China is 30.9%, compared to 66% in the United States, South China Morning Post reported. The report also found that the prevalence of cancer has doubled over the last two decades, reaching a level of 285.91 cases per 100,000 people in 2009. Rural patients were found to have a lower survival rate, at 21.8%, while urban rates were much higher at 39.5%. One reason for the higher survival rates in the US is that the common types of cancer there – prostate and breast cancer – are much more treatable than the lung, liver, stomach and pancreas cancers more prevalent in China.