[benjvi]

Interesting article, but as it mentions, this is the latest in a series of breakthroughs in cancer treatment. What is missing for me in there is any idea of the number of people that this could affect.

Medical statistics ( http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/cancer-info/cancerstats/surv... )show that overall cancer survival rates have been improving according to a linear trend - by an absolute amount of ~0.65% per year.

This would put the date at which cancer is "cured" at somewhere in the 2090s. So, are we talking about continuing this trend or surpassing it? How much of a step forward is this and is it likely to be applied trivially to other forms of cancer?

[SoftwareMaven]

Cancer survival rates are usually five year survival from diagnosis. We've gotten better at detecting cancer earlier, meaning people are more likely to make it to five years, but, from what I've read (and I'd love to see research showing what I've seen is wrong!), the number of people living longer than they would have 30 years ago has not gone up as dramatically (there are some cancers that have seen tremendous improvement, though).

Does anybody have numbers on 10-20 year survival?

[benjvi]

The linked stats show 1,5 and 10 year survival rates, which are all roughly following the same trend