Classics in oncology. Survival in untreated and treated cancer

During 1935 to 1951, a total of 75,494 cancer cases occurred among the inhabitants of Connecticut, of whom there were 2,000,000 in 1950. The five-year survival rate has improved gradually from 12 and 19 percent of all males and females, respectively, in 1935 to 1940, to 20 and 32 percent, respectively, during 1947 to 1951. This improvement is not due to earlier diagnosis of the cases, as can be seen from the similar distribution of localized and disseminated cases during the whole period of study. The improvement has occurred in cancer that is diagnosed when it is clinically localized and when it involves regional areas, but not when it is disseminated. The most marked improvement is recorded for cancers of the colon and rectum in both sexes, and of the uterine cervix in women. The data are compared with survival rates anticipated in untreated neoplastic disease. A new era of detection and treatment of cancer is being entered through the studies on in situ and occult cancers among the population.