What are the NHS England stage‑by‑stage tables for 1, 5 and 10‑year colon cancer survival (2016–2021 follow‑up)?
Executive summary
The official NHS England release "Cancer survival in England, cancers diagnosed 2016 to 2020, followed up to 2021" publishes stage‑specific 1‑ and 5‑year net survival estimates for bowel (colon/rectum) cancers and provides downloadable stage tables (see the Figure 4/data download for bowel cancer) [1] [2]. Ten‑year stage‑specific survival is not included in that 2016–2020 follow‑up release; most public 10‑year stage estimates for colon cancer come from earlier ONS/NCRAS products with follow‑up to 2018 and from Cancer Research UK summaries [3] [4].
1. What the NHS tables cover and where to get them
NHS England’s statistical release for cancers diagnosed 2016–2020 (followed to 2021) contains age‑standardised and non‑standardised net survival estimates presented by cancer group and by stage at diagnosis, and it offers downloadable data files for figures — including the file labelled for bowel cancer stage‑by‑stage 1‑year net survival (Figure 4) and accompanying stage breakdowns for 1‑ and 5‑year survival across cancer groups [1] [2] [5].
2. Which survival measures are reported and their meaning
The NHS tables report net survival — an estimate designed to reflect survival due to the cancer itself rather than crude observed survival — presented as 1‑year and 5‑year net survival by stage at diagnosis for adults (age‑standardised where noted) [5] [1]. The statistical release documents that survival estimates are given by stage, age, sex and deprivation and that data are compiled by the National Disease Registration Service within NHS Digital [1] [6].
3. The 10‑year gap: why 10‑year stage tables are not in the 2016–2021 release
The 2016–2020 follow‑up dataset focuses on 1‑ and 5‑year net survival; explicit 10‑year stage‑by‑stage survival is not published in that specific release because 10‑year estimates require longer follow‑up and NHS/ONS public products that include 10‑year survival use earlier diagnosis cohorts (for example, ONS/NCRAS products with follow‑up to 2018 and Cancer Research UK summaries cite 10‑year figures derived from those earlier datasets) [3] [4]. Therefore, users seeking stage‑specific 10‑year survival should consult the ONS/NCRAS historical releases or Cancer Research UK’s dashboards referenced by NHS sources [3] [7].
4. What the headline context and trends say about colon/bowel survival
NHS England’s trend commentary shows 1‑ and 5‑year non‑standardised net survival has generally improved for patients diagnosed 2016–2020 compared to earlier diagnosis periods, although patterns vary by cancer type and sex and certain cancers show slower gains (the trend statement refers to improved 1‑ and 5‑year survival overall for patients diagnosed 2016–2020 versus 2007–2011) [8]. Independent analysts and charities — Cancer Research UK and Nuffield Trust — highlight that 5‑year bowel/colon survival has been rising over decades but that international comparators and inequalities by deprivation remain important context [9] [4].
5. Practical next steps for researchers and clinicians
To obtain the exact stage‑by‑stage numeric tables for 1‑ and 5‑year colon/bowel survival for the 2016–2020 diagnoses followed to 2021, download the relevant data files from the NHS Digital survival release (the Figure 4/data download for bowel cancer and the “survival by cancer group” downloads) and, for 10‑year stage estimates, consult ONS/NCRAS historic releases or Cancer Research UK’s survival dashboards which cite longer follow‑up products [2] [5] [3]. The public releases explicitly document methodology, age‑standardisation and caveats about stage completeness, so those files are the authoritative source for stage‑by‑stage numeric tables [1] [6].