If you get cancer today you are now more likely to survive it. New government research shows there has been a 30 per cent increase in five-year cancer survival rates since 1986. According to the Cancer Council here in Australia, 64 per cent of Australian women and 58 per cent of men have survived five years after a cancer diagnosis compared with 53 and 41 per cent respectively, between 1982 and 1986. The findings reflect the effectiveness of early detection and advances in chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgery. These treatments extend the lives of people who have been diagnosed with a range of cancers.