Cancer patients’ survival chances are better in Australia and Sweden than in Britain and Denmark, according to a major global study published yesterday.
Experts said late diagnosis could be the main reason.
The research was conducted in Britain with funding from the British government and charity Cancer Research UK, and compares the UK with Australia, Canada, Sweden, Norway and Denmark.
The researchers conclude that Britain and Denmark have the worst survival rates for cancer of the six countries.
It showed that by 2007, some 86 per cent of patients with breast cancer lived for five years after diagnosis – compared with 91 per cent in Australia. This was in spite of Britain and Denmark showing massive improvements in breast cancer care in the previous decade.
The difference for patients with colorectal cancer was starker. In Britain some 54 per cent survived for five years after diagnosis compared with 66 per cent in Australia, according to the findings published in The Lancet.
The researchers promise more work from the International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership to identify the reasons for the difference – aiming to pin down the impact of late presentation and popular attitudes to cancer as well as in treatment.
Professor Sir Mike Richards, the UK national cancer director, said a new cancer strategy would be launched next year.
He said: "In England we have already started work on improving early diagnosis, including a new campaign starting next month to alert people to the early signs and symptoms of bowel, lung and breast cancer and plans to give GPs more direct access to key diagnostic tests."
Sara Hiom, of Cancer Research UK, said: "It’s encouraging to see that survival for breast, bowel, lung, and ovarian cancers has improved across the board and this study shows how far survival has improved for some of the most common cancers in the UK. But we still have work to do.
"Now we know how we currently compare to other countries, we must look at exactly why these differences in survival exist."
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