OBJECTIVETo determine the survival rates of liver cancer in Qidong during the years 1972-2011, according to the data from a population-based cancer registry, in order to assess the long-term trends for prognosis of this cancer type.

METHODSThe deadline of the last follow-up for survival status of the 28, 398 registered cases was April of 2012. Cumulative observed survival (OS) and relative survival (RS) rates were calculated using Hakulinen's method performed by the SURV3.01 software developed by the Finnish Cancer Registry.

RESULTSThe 1-, 3-, 5-, 10-and 15-year OS rates were 15.18%, 6.23%, 4.26%, 2.79% and 2.39%, respectively; the 1-, 3-, 5-, 10-and 15-year RS rates were 15.47%, 6.60%, 4.69%, 3.41% and 3.29%, respectively. For males, these OS rates were 14.95%, 6.05%, 4.06%, 2.67% and 2.26%, and these RS rates were 15.23%, 6.41%, 4.47%, 3.26% and 3.12%, respectively. For females, these OS rates were 15.89%, 6.79%, 4.87%, 3.17% and 2.80%, and these RS rates were 16.20%, 7.20%, 5.37%, 3.87% and 3.82%, respectively. No statistical differences were found between the male and female groups (P>0.05). The 5-year RS rates for age groups 15-34, 35-44, 45-54, 55-64, 65-74 and 75+ years-old were 4.42%, 4.29%, 4.96%, 4.67%, 4.67% and 6.35%, and the 10-year RS rates were 3.17%, 2.98%, 3.44%, 3.47%, 3.75% and 11.27%, respectively. Remarkable improvement was seen for the 1-, 3-, 5-, 10-and 15-year OS rates in this setting since the 1980s.

CONCLUSIONThe survival outcome from Qidong registered cases with liver cancer has shown gradual progress over the past four decades. Early detection and improvement of therapies may be responsible for the improved prognosis of liver cancer. While the disparity gap of survival between this area and developed countries is narrowing, there is still a need for improving the survival in Qidong.