IRELAND RANKS second in Europe for the number of cancer cases and deaths from the disease, according to a new report.
The incidence of cancer in Irish men is the fourth highest on the continent, with only Hungary, Belgium and France recording higher rates, according to the report on patient access to cancer drugs published yesterday by Swedish researchers.
Irish women also rank fourth for the incidence of the disease, behind Hungary, Iceland and Denmark. The figures relate to 2006 and cover 30 countries in Europe.
The report by Dr Nils Wilking, a cancer specialist at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, and Prof Bengt Jonsson of the Stockholm School of Economics, says cancer incidence is rising, in part because of improved screening methods for the disease.
However, deaths from cancer are falling as treatment technologies improve.
“New treatments have made it possible to target diseases more effectively,” Dr Wilking said.
“For cancer patients, these newer therapies mean an improved quality of life, with less time spent in hospital and the chance to return to their day-to-day activities earlier.”
The report highlights wide gaps in Europe in cancer survival rates in different countries.
For example, more than 60 per cent of Swedes diagnosed with cancer survive compared to 38 per cent of Czech men and 49 per cent of Czech women.
No figures for survival rates in Ireland were provided.
The average per capita spend on cancer treatment in Ireland is €193, which ranks us eighth in Europe.
In contrast, Luxembourg spend €342 for every one of its citizens on combating the disease, and the UK, €132.
Some 1.2 million deaths were caused by cancer in Europe in 2006 and 2.35 million new cases were diagnosed.
The direct cost of treating the disease is put at €54 billion, with indirect costs about twice this.
Although survival rates are improving, for most types of cancer they remain below the rates recorded in the US.
