England ‘lagging behind comparable nations in terms of cancer survival’

A new study has indicated that England needs to close the gap on other countries with similar healthcare systems when it comes to cancer survival rates.

Research from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, funded by Cancer Research UK, compared survival for colon, breast, lung, ovarian, rectal and stomach cancers in England, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Norway and Sweden between 1995 and 2009.

Of the six countries, cancer survival was lowest in England, with Australia and Sweden leading the pack. Five-year cancer survival was five to 12 percent lower in England across all the cancer types measured when compared to the better-performing nations.

The report also showed that five-year survival from breast cancer improved more in England than in the four leading countries, while survival for all cancers except ovarian improved faster in England than Australia.

This is due to the fact that more is being done to tackle the problem in England than in other countries, but the study indicates that more work needs to be done.

Sara Hiom, Cancer Research UK's director of early diagnosis, said a focus needs to be placed on "providing world-class funding for our cancer services and these services working together more effectively if we want to achieve world-class cancer survival".