The UK is trailing much of the Western world when it comes to beating cancer, with a “lethal gap” in survival rates.
Analysis from Macmillan Cancer Support found survival rates for several common types of cancer are only now reaching levels countries such as Sweden and Norway achieved in the early 2000s.
Figures from other leading cancer charities also reveal the UK is near the bottom of the world rankings for survival rates five years after the diagnosis of cancers including stomach, lung and pancreatic cancer.
More than 390,000 people are diagnosed with cancer each year in the UK, at least one person every 90 seconds, according to Macmillan.
Data analysis by the charity found the five-year survival rates for women with colon cancer in England are 20 years behind Sweden. Women diagnosed between 1997 and 2001 with this cancer in Sweden lived longer than those in England diagnosed between 2016 and 2020.
The latest figures show 57.6 per cent of women in England with colon cancer live for at least five years after diagnosis, compared with 72.2 per cent in Denmark, 71.7 per cent in Norway and 70.6 per cent in Sweden.
For men with the same cancer, survival rates in England are also 57.6 per cent, 15 years behind Sweden.
Survival rates for women with cervical cancer in England lag 25 years behind Norway, at 61.4 per cent. The survival rate in Norway was 66.2 per cent in 1992-1996 and is now 76.4 per cent.
The survival rate is 74.7 in Sweden and 76.6 per cent in Denmark.
Breast cancer, the most common form of cancer in the UK, has survival rates for women in England of 85.9 per cent five years after diagnosis, while in Sweden the figure is 92.5 per cent.
Prostate cancer among men in England has a survival rate of 88.5 per cent, while Sweden’s rate is 95 per cent.
Macmillan compared data with the three Scandinavian countries because they have relatively similar healthcare systems to the UK and publish high-quality cancer survival statistics.
Gemma Peters, Macmillan CEO, said it was “clear that cancer care is at breaking point but this is a political choice and better is possible”.
She added: “We urgently need the next UK government to prioritise a long-term cross-government strategy that revolutionises cancer care and ensures everyone with cancer has access to the care they need, every step of the way.”
The Less Survivable Cancers Taskforce, which represents charities for lung, liver, brain, oesophageal, pancreatic and stomach cancer, released figures in January that laid bare the UK’s low survival rates among 33 countries of comparable wealth.
The UK ranked 28th for survival rates for stomach and lung cancer, 26th for pancreatic cancer, 25th for brain cancer, 21st for liver and 16th for oesophageal.
Anna Jewell, Less Survivable Cancers Taskforce chair, told i: “The reasons behind the UK’s lethal gap in survival are complex and experts believe they are likely to be a mix of delayed diagnosis and slow access to treatment.
“Many patients with a less survivable cancer will only be diagnosed after an emergency admission to hospital or an urgent GP referral after symptoms have become severe.
“These poor outcomes are often the result of patients waiting too long for a confirmed diagnosis and for treatment to begin.”
She said seven in 10 patients in the UK receive no treatment at all for pancreatic cancer and of the 10,000 people diagnosed annually, just 10 per cent receive surgery, which is the only potentially curative treatment.
The countries with the highest five-year survival rates for less survivable cancers were Korea, Belgium, USA, Australia and China and the analysis found that if people in the UK survived at the same rate as those in these countries, more than 8,000 lives could be saved annually.
Michelle Mitchell, Cancer Research UK chief executive, said: “The UK should have world-leading cancer outcomes.
“All cancer patients, no matter where they live, deserve to receive the highest quality care. But research supported by Cancer Research UK shows that cancer survival in the UK lags behind comparable countries, and this is unacceptable.
“Transforming cancer outcomes in the UK will require strong political will and decisive leadership.”
The Department of Health and Social Care has been approached by i for comment.
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