Cancer survival rates lower in the UK

Survival rates for the most common forms of cancer are lower in the UK than most other European countries, a major study has shown.The survey, called Eurocare-4, is the largest of its kind. It compared five-year survival rates for eight common cancers for 2.7 million patients from 23 European countries.Published in The Lancet, the investigation found that, overall, rates were improving and gaps between rich and poor countries narrowing for those diagnosed between 1995 and 1999.However, British survival rates remain below average and are similar to those of some eastern European countries where healthcare funding is less than a third of that in the UK.The findings led the journal which published the results to deliver a crushing verdict on the Department of Health's cancer plan, developed to tackle cancer in England.The Department of Health's cancer "Tsar" Professor Mike Richards said the report brought "welcome news of improvements in cancer survival.." and showed that "many more lives could be saved if the outcomes in all countries were brought up to the standards of the best countries".He said poor UK results from previous Eurocare studies had been attributable mainly to patients being diagnosed at a later stage than in other European countries."For policymakers, this conclusion is clearly of great importance, because it indicates that particular emphasis should be put on achieving earlier diagnosis," he added.Led by Dr Franco Berrino, from the National Tumour Institute in Milan, Italy, the Eurocare team gathered data from 83 cancer registries.In the first five years after diagnosis, the total number of cancer deaths was 1.3 million, with an overall survival rate of 51.9 per cent.Bowel cancer had a survival rate of 53.8 per cent, lung 12.3 per cent, breast 78.9 per cent, prostate 75.7 per cent, ovarian 36.3 per cent, melanoma (skin cancer) 81.6 per cent, testis 94.2 per cent, and Hodgkin's disease 80 per cent.For the first five cancers, survival rates were highest in Nordic countries, apart from Denmark, and central Europe, intermediate in southern Europe, lower in the UK and Ireland, and worst in eastern Europe.Survival rates of the last three cancers varied little between different countries.Both the UK and Denmark had lower levels of all-cancer survival than other countries whose spending was similar to theirs. In contrast, Finland had high survival rates despite only moderate health expenditure.Five-year breast cancer survival was around 83 per cent in Finland and Sweden, 82 per cent in France and Italy, 81 per cent in the Netherlands, but only about 77 per cent in Britain and Denmark.For bowel cancer, five-year survival was above 57 per cent in Nordic countries and several central and southern European populations, but 51 per cent in the UK and 49 per cent in Denmark.In its editorial, The Lancet Oncology said: "Overall, survival for all cancers in England is lower than the European average."In other parts of the UK, survival for melanoma and for colorectal (bowel), lung, breast ovarian and prostate cancer is also lower than the European average, and in some cases among the lowest in Europe."Overall, survival for all cancers combined in the UK as a whole is not only below the European average, it is also noticeably similar to some eastern European countries that spend less than one third of the UK's per capita healthcare budget."© Independent Television News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.

ITN | August 21, 2007

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