Cancer survival in the UK has improved since 1995, but still lags behind other high-income countries, according to a new analysis by the International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership (ICBP), which is managed by Cancer Research UK.
The study, published in Lancet Oncology, looked at 3.9 million cancer cases between 1995 and 2014, in seven comparable countries (Australia, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, and the UK).
This is the first international study to look at changes in cancer survival alongside incidence and mortality for cancers of the oesophagus, stomach, colon, rectum, pancreas, lung, and ovary.
The figures show that the UK has the lowest rates of five-year survival for five of the seven cancers.
While five-year survival rates have increased for UK patients with oesophageal cancer, the current rate (16.2%) is significantly lower than that in Australia (23.5%) and Ireland (21.9%), based on 2010-2014 data.
The UK came in last for stomach cancer survival (20.8%), contrasting with a high of 32.8% in Australia and 29.8% in Canada. UK rates for colon (58.9%), rectum (62.1%), pancreatic (7.9%), and lung (14.7%) cancer were lower than in all other countries.
Australia had the best survival rates for all but one cancer. In 2010-2014, five-year survival rates reached 23.5% for oesophageal cancer, 32.8% for stomach cancer, 70.8% for both colon and rectal cancer, 14.6% for cancer of the pancreas, and 21.4% for lung cancer. Norway reported the highest five-year survival rates for ovarian cancer at 46.2%, compared to 37.1% in the UK.
