More than 1.5M Canadians are living with or beyond cancer: new data

(Hayatullah Amanat/ CTV News) — The number of people in Canada who are living with cancer or have survived cancer has climbed to 1.5 million.

According to a new report released on Tuesday by the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS), the prevalence of cancer is “both a reason for optimism and concern.”

Ten years ago the prevalence figure was estimated to be one million, meaning more people are surviving now, but also more people are getting cancer.

Data from 2018 included that an estimated 1.5 million people currently alive in Canada had been diagnosed with cancer at some point in the previous 25 years. Almost 60 per cent of them were diagnosed five to 25 years ago – showing that the majority were living long-term with or after cancer. (…)