United Kingdom Receives Below Average Results for Cancer Cure Rates
Data culled from a 1988-to-1999 study performed under the EUROCARE 4 project has resulted in troubling findings for cancer patients in the United Kingdom. According to a newly released study, the countries of England and Scotland lag behind other European countries in terms of complete cancer cure rates.
Both UK countries fell below the average cancer cure rates for all European countries. Cure rates in England for all cancers between 1988 and 1999 were 34.5 percent for men and 49.8 percent for women. In Scotland, the numbers drop to 30.8 percent for men and 44.8 percent for women.
For comparison, Iceland ranked first among the countries studied, with a 47 percent cure rate for men and a 59 percent cure rate for women.
When looking at some cancers, the results for the UK are alarmingly pronounced. Cure rates for cancers such as stomach, ovary, prostate, thyroid and kidney are more than 5 percent below the European average. These results were taken from a more-recent study that concluded in 2004.
To their credit, the United Kingdom does outperform other European countries on average when it comes to beating certain cancers. These cancers include head, neck and larynx cancers, as well as malignant melanoma and testicular cancer.
Despite the underwhelming figures overall, experts are confident that current survival rates for cancer in the UK have improved. Many cancer researchers took issue with the UK’s poor investment practices into cancer services. This fact is likely the cause for previously unsatisfactory cancer survival rates. However, since the turn of the century, investment into the field has improved dramatically.
During the study, the UK invested six to seven percent of the Gross Domestic Product to cancer services. At the same time, many other European countries were devoting as much as 11 percent.
In addition to an increase in funding, the UK’s Cancer Plan of 2000 should also serve to bolster cancer cure rates. In current and future analysis of such data, cancer experts believe it is important to pinpoint the reasons for reduced cancer rates and then work out solutions so that future rates can be improved.
Resources:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7958585.stm
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/5040120/Half-of-women-survive-cancer.html
