Cancer remains the leading cause of death, with some types such as upper gastrointestinal, brain and lung cancers having high one-year mortality rates. However, thanks to improvements in treatment, more and more patients are surviving longer, with medical needs that can persist for decades after treatment ends. Around 5% of Europeans are diagnosed with cancer. In the UK, around 3.5 million people have survived cancer and this is expected to rise to 5.3 million by 2040. In the US, more than 18 million people will survive cancer in 2022, which is expected to rise to 27 million by 2050. The US National Cancer Institute considers anyone from the time of diagnosis to be a cancer survivor. The article points to the need to view cancer as a chronic disease given the growing number of long-term survivors with ongoing health needs.