'Tipping point' in battle against cancer

Survival rates for testicular cancer had jumped from 69 percent to 98 percent, and for malignant skin cancer from 46 percent to 89 percent, a major new study shows.

Researchers looking at data from over 7 million patients found an increase in survival rates from the 1970s, when just a quarter of patients lived as long as 10 years.

The chart bellow shows the survival rates improvements. Each arrow illustrates the increase in survival rates between 1971 and 2011.

All cancers rates improved from 25 percent in 1971 to 50 percent in 2011.

The chief executive of Cancer Research UK, Dr Harpal Kumarhas, told ITV News the survival rates reflect the "enormous progress" in cancer treatment.

Dr Kumar added that for many patients the survival time would be "very much longer" than 10 years.

Women with breast cancer now had a 78 percent chance of surviving at least a decade, compared with 40 percent in 1971. Similarly, the proportion of men living 10 years with prostate cancer had jumped from 25 percent to around 80 percent.

But it was not all good news. The outlook remained bleak for patients with the deadliest forms of cancer.

Fewer than 5 percent of people diagnosed with lung and pancreatic cancer could expect to live 10 years, and for oesophageal and brain cancers decade-long survival was no more than 15 percent.

Watch: Cancer Research chief hails 'enormous progress'

A man who was diagnosed with the same cancer which claimed his mother's life has told ITV News of the "long journey" he took to beat the disease.

Richie Birch was given only a 3% chance of surviving pancreatic cancer, but after a lengthy operation and courses of chemotherapy he has now been free of the disease for four and a half years.

He said the key for pancreatic cancer sufferers was early diagnosis, as many patients are not aware they ahve di

The "enormous progress" in cancer treatment means the disease is no longer considered a "death sentence", the chief executive of Cancer Research UK has told ITV News.

Harpal Kumar also urged people with symptoms to go and see their doctor as "more often than not" there will be effective treatment available.

A former cancer patient has told ITV News that it "never crossed her mind" she would not beat the disease.

Laural Johnson, who was treated for oesophageal cancer, also said she was "excited" by a new study from Cancer Research UK showing a marked improvement in survival rates.

Read: 'Tipping point' in battle against cancer

The fight against cancer has reached a "tipping point" with more than half of sufferers now surviving at least 10 years, a major new study shows.

Researchers looking at data from over 7 million patients found a huge increase in survival rates from the 1970s, when just a quarter of patients lived as long as ten years after diagnosis.

The chief executive of Cancer Research UK, Dr Harpal Kumar, added that for many patients the survival time would be "very much longer" than 10 years.