§ Mr. BaronTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment has been made of the reasons why the UK has lower survival rates for breast cancer than other EU countries. [141878]
§ Miss Melanie Johnson[holding answer 4 December 2003]: Comparable statistics on cancer survival in the United Kingdom and most other European Union countries have been produced in three studies funded by the European Commission (the EUROCARE studies). Cancer registries in the UK, including staff from the National Registry at the Office for National Statistics, have been involved in these studies since they began in 1989.
The recently published findings of the EUROCARE 3 study, covering patients diagnosed in 1990–94, showed that cancer survival rates in England, in general, lag behind those in Europe. However, the study also shows that the gap in survival rates between England and other comparable countries is now beginning to diminish. For patients diagnosed with breast cancer in the early 1990s, differences in the stage at diagnosis were a key explanation for the differences in survival between Western European countries.
878WIt is important to note that these studies predate the introduction of the NHS Cancer Plan by more than five years. The improvements in waiting times, treatment and the introduction of specialist teams for breast cancer patients now being delivered by the NHS Cancer Plan will help to ensure survival rates for breast cancer patients continue to improve. Indeed, Cancer Research UK have noted that in the past decade British women have had the worlds biggest decrease in deaths from breast cancer thanks to better diagnosis and treatment. Indeed, deaths from breast cancer among the under 70s have decreased more sharply in Britain than anywhere in the world, by 30 per cent., in the last 10 years.