Britain's CANCER SHAME: UK 10 years behind rest of Europe with hundreds 'dying needlessly'

PEOPLE in the UK are "dying needlessly" with survival rates for those with common cancers a decade behind other European countries, according to a leading charity.

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Survival rates for common cancers in the UK have been heavily criticised

Macmillan Cancer Support said Britain was struggling to even match the survival rates many other nations had in the 1990s.

The figures, which cover the period from 2005 and 2009 compared to the 10 years previous, looked at breast, lung, colon and stomach cancers.

Examples of Britain's poor performance include a 19 per cent survival rate of stomach cancer in the UK in the four years after 2005, compared to 31 per cent in Italy a decade before, as well as 30 per cent in Austria and 23 per cent in Germany.

For colon cancer, 54 per cent of people survived in the UK in the recent figures, lagging behind Finland (59 per cent), Italy (58 per cent) and France (57 per cent) in the earlier results.

Macmillan's chief executive Lynda Thomas called for all political parties to commit to tackling the shameful rates.

She said: "This analysis exposes the harsh reality that because UK cancer survival rates are lagging so far behind the rest of Europe, people are dying needlessly.

"What we can see here is that better cancer survival rates are not unachievable. If countries like Sweden, France, Finland and Austria can achieve these rates, then the UK can and should bridge the gap.

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Medical experts in the UK admit more could be done to tackle cancer

It’s distressing that we are failing to offer the best cancer care possible

Dr Ian Campbell, Nottingham GP

"With the general election in our sights, Macmillan is urging all political parties to make cancer a top health priority and commit to improving UK cancer survival rates and outcomes in order to match the best in Europe."

It was previously thought one in three people would develop cancer at some point in their lives. But studies underestimated the risk of a disease which kills 160,000 in the UK every year and it is now believed half of people would contract it.

The alarming “milestone” applies to those born in the early 1960s and beyond. It means a child born today has a 50 per cent chance of developing cancer at some point in their lifetime.

Based on the current population, 32million will be diagnosed with 16million dying from the condition.

Experts warned an ageing population and failure to address chronically unhealthy lifestyles means the NHS could be placed under unprecedented pressure.

Some of Britain’s leading cancer specialists agree the alarming prophecy highlights an “urgent” need to bolster services.

Men born 55 years ago have a 53.5 per cent risk of being diagnosed with the disease in their lifetime. For women it is 47.5 per cent.

For those born in 1960 the risk of getting cancer is 34 per cent more than those born in 1930.

While age remains the biggest risk of developing some form of the disease, lifestyle choices like poor diet, obesity, sunburn and lack of exercise are blamed for soaring rates.

Dr Ian Campbell, a family GP in Nottingham, said: “It’s distressing that we are failing to offer the best cancer care possible. 

“The NHS doesn’t have limitless resources, we can’t do everything we would like, but clearly life-threatening disease like cancer deserves nothing short of the best possible care.

“I am also concerned the pressure we in General Practice have had. To delay referring patients for specialist investigations will inevitably mean some cancer diagnoses are at best delayed and at worst missed altogether. 

“We have to agree to fund the NHS adequately to ensure we remain the best health care system in the world.”

Lung, pancreatic and oesophageal cancer survival rates remain poor, while those diagnosed with testicular cancer now have a 90% chance of beating the disease.

Cheap package holidays and Britain’s obsession with fake tans are blamed for an increase in melanomas, while head and neck cancers are “emerging” types of the disease. 

Growing older is the biggest risk factor for most cancers but four in 10 cancers diagnosed each year in the UK could be prevented by changes in lifestyle.

In 2012/13 NHS England had a budget of £105billion of which £5.68bn was spent on cancer services - roughly one in £18.

Sarah Woolnough, of Cancer Research UK, said: “These figures show the UK still lags behind many other countries even though our cancer survival is improving. 

“It’s vital the Government prioritises cancer and invests more into cancer services so our survival rates can match the best in the world.”

Medical experts say the situation in the UK has improved in the years after the study covers. However, they admit more could be done.

The Department of Health said: “As this research shows, when this Government came to office cancer survival rates were the worst in Western Europe – but we’ve invested an extra £750million and those rates are now at an all-time high.”

NHS England's national clinical director for cancer Sean Duffy said: ""We have come on leaps and bounds since this 2009 data highlighted by Macmillan, but we have an ambition to save even more lives and it's time to take a fresh look at how we can do better.

"This is why we have already established an independent taskforce to develop a new cancer strategy for the next five years."

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