Oncology

When prostate cancer spreads beyond the prostate to other parts of the body, or returns after treatment, it is known as advanced prostate cancer.³ While advanced prostate cancer is not usually curable, treatments can help manage the disease, ease symptoms, and improve quality of life.⁴
 

Prostate cancer often grows slowly. In many cases, it can take years to grow large enough to be detected, and even longer to spread outside the prostate.⁵
 

In the United States, about 97% of people diagnosed with prostate cancer live at least five years. When the cancer is found early—while it is still local or regional—the five-year survival rate is nearly 100%. However, if it has already spread to distant parts of the body, the five-year survival rate drops to approximately 32%.⁷
 

These figures reflect outcomes in the U.S., where early detection and treatment are widely available. Survival rates may vary in other countries depending on access to healthcare, awareness, and resources. For example, European data from the EUROCARE-5 study shows a 5-year survival rate ranging from 76% to 88%, depending on the region.⁸

Urothelial carcinoma (UC) is the most common type of bladder cancer, accounting for approximately 90% of all cases.^9,10 It begins in the urothelial cells that line the inside of the bladder and other parts of the urinary tract.¹⁰
 

Bladder cancer is the seventh most prevalent cancer worldwide and ranks among the top 10 cancers by incidence in many countries, particularly affecting men.^11,12 Globally, the 5-year prevalence estimates that over 1,700,000 men and women are living with bladder cancer within five years of a past diagnosis.¹³ The 5-year age-standardized survival rate for bladder cancer survival is 69% for men and 66% for women.¹⁴

Gastric cancer is the fifth most common cancer globally, with nearly 970,000 cases diagnosed in 2022.¹⁵ Oftentimes, stomach cancers are adenocarcinomas, meaning the cancer develops from the gland cells in the innermost lining of the stomach. Other types of cancers that start in the stomach include gastrointestinal stromal tumors, neuroendocrine tumors, lymphoma of the stomach, and types of squamous cell carcinoma in the stomach.¹⁶ Advanced or metastatic gastric cancer means it has spread from the tumor’s origin to other body tissues or organs.¹⁷
 

Globally, gastric cancer ranks fifth among the combined population for incidence and are twofold higher in men than women worldwide.¹⁸ Gastric cancer ranks fifth for mortality globally, with an estimated 659,805 deaths in 2022.¹⁴ Globally, overall five-year relative survival rate for people diagnosed with gastric cancer at any stage is 20%.¹⁷
 

Gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) tumors start at the area where the esophagus joins the stomach and tend to behave like cancers in the esophagus and are treated like them.¹⁹ Sometimes, people diagnosed with GEJ cancer are diagnosed once the cancer has already advanced and metastasized. 

Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) is a type of cancer that starts in the bone marrow but often quickly moves into the blood. It can sometimes spread to other parts of the body, as well.²⁰ Most often, AML develops from cells that would turn into white blood cells, but sometimes it develops in other types of blood-forming cells.²⁰ AML is deemed “acute,” meaning that this type of leukaemia can progress quickly and, if not treated, would probably be fatal within a few months.²¹
 

AML is one of the most common types of leukaemia in adults, but it’s still rare.²² The global incidence of AML increased from 79,372 in 1990 to 144,645 in 2021. However, the age standardized incidence rate (ASIR) decreased from 1.77 per 100,000 persons in 1990 to 1.73 per 100,000 population in 2021. The 5-year relative survival rate for adults with AML is only 32.9% in the United States.^24,25 AML is most common in people aged 65 years and older, however, overall cure rates are significantly lower for patients over the age of 60 (5-15%) versus patients under 60 (35-40%).²⁶  Patients with AML whose disease is refractory to or relapses after induction chemotherapy have a dismal prognosis with standard chemotherapy.²⁷