Abstract
• Population-level cancer survival is an important measure of the impact of cancer among Indigenous and Tribal peoples.
• Reporting survival statistics using a range of measures provides different perspectives and assists in appropriate interpretation.
• Measures of survival require accurate information on ethnicity, which is lacking in many countries.
• Absolute measures of survival, such as remaining life expectancy, crude probability of death, and avoidable cancer deaths, provide tangible estimates of the population-level impact of cancer diagnosis.
• Population-level statistics may help to inform decision-making at the individual level, although the unique circumstances of each person also need to be considered.
In the context of generally poorer health among Indigenous and Tribal peoples, assessing the impact of a cancer diagnosis within this population is important. Cancer survival is an important measure of this and can enable informed decision-making to improve health outcomes and reduce the burden of cancer in these populations. However, to ensure that analyses are meaningful and robust, we need to ensure we are using the most appropriate methods possible. In this chapter, we briefly summarize the concept of cancer survival, as well as contemporary methods that measure this concept.