Survival
SURVIVAL
Cancer survival has improved across Europe, yet there are disparities between countries and differences between cancer types.
Despite rising cancer incidence, cancer mortality has not increased at the same pace in Europe. This is because advances in cancer care have improved the survival rates of most cancer types since the 1990s. Part of these improvements were achieved through the introduction of new, more effective cancer medicines, although their exact contribution is difficult to ascertain and also differs by cancer type. The greatest survival improvements were observed for hematologic cancers, which also have seen a great number of new medicine launches.
However, some solid tumor types (bladder, brain, gynecological, laryngeal cancer) recorded little or no improvement. Several cancer types have now a five-year survival rate exceeding 90% in the best-performing countries, including breast, prostate, testicular, and thyroid cancer, melanoma skin cancer, and Hodgkin lymphoma. Almost 200,000 cancer deaths could be avoided every year if all 15 countries with available survival data matched the survival rates of Sweden, the best-performing country in Europe.
Variation in 5-year cancer survival persists across Europe. Over 24% more people are alive in Sweden five years following a cancer diagnosis when compared to Poland.