Cancer prevalence in Germany in 2017 Number of cancer survivors based on data from population-based cancer registries

Background Due to improvement in cancer prognosis, but also due to demographic aging, the number of cancer survivors in Germany is increasing. However, detailed data on the overall prevalence of cancer in Germany are still lacking. Objectives To present up-to-date estimates on the total number of cancer survivors according to tumor entity, sex, age and time since diagnosis. Materials and methods In a first step, the 25-year cancer prevalence in Germany in 2017 was calculated using the most recent cancer incidence and survival data available by the Center for Cancer Registry Data (ZfKD) at the Robert Koch Institute by the method of Pisani et al. Lifetime (complete) prevalence in Germany was estimated by extrapolation of the 25-year prevalence according to the age-, sex- and cancer-specific ratio from total prevalence and 25-year prevalence derived from the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) data. Results There have been 4.65 million cancer survivors in Germany by end of 2017 (2.10 million men and 2.55 million women). About two-thirds of all cancer survivors may be considered "long-term survivors", i.e., the cancer diagnosis was 5 or more years ago. Conclusions More people than ever are living after a cancer diagnosis. In developed countries, they now make up about 5% of the population. Due to demographic aging and in particular the entry of the "baby boomers" into the 50+ generation, the number of people with or after cancer in Germany will continue to rise in the coming years.