UK cancer stats ‘worse than in Europe’

Despite UK cancer survival rates improving Britain is still falling behind other European countries, wide-ranging research has shown today.

Published in the Lancet medical journal, the EuroCare study analysed survival rates of patients with cancer with data from 83 registries in 23 countries.

The UK and Denmark had lower all-cancer survival than countries which spent a similar amount on health. In contrast, Finland had high all-cancer survival but only moderate health expenditure.

Commenting on the findings, an editorial in the Lancet claims that the NHS cancer plan is not working and raises a number of questions about the direction UK policy must take to improve cancer survival rates.

“The answers are likely to lead to a fundamental reassessment of the ways in which the NHS operates?such as divorcing the NHS from political control and short-term political gains,” it states.

Professor Richard Sullivan, Cancer Research UK’s director of clinical programmes, said today’s study shows “encouraging improvements for the UK” in improving cancer.

“While there are genuine differences in the early diagnosis and treatment of cancer patients between the UK and other European countries, the degree of that difference remains uncertain,” he added.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health said “great improvements” had been made since the national cancer plan was introduced in 2000.