Study finds huge variations in cancer survival rates across the country

New research from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that the percentage of people living for a year after diagnosis varies by as much as 20 per cent from one region to another.

The research tracked survival rates for people across the country diagnosed with various cancers between 2004-2006 and the ONS said it found “wide geographic disparities” in the results.

One startling figure shows that men diagnosed with stomach cancer in Worcester are more than 15 per cent less likely to survive for at least a year compared to some other parts of the country.

The one-year survival rate for the Three Counties cancer network area - covering south Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Gloucestershire - is just 29.2 per cent, compared to 46.6 per cent in the best area, north-west London.

Lung cancer is another area to show huge disparities. North-west London again has the best one-year survival rates, at 36.7 per cent for women and 32.2 per cent for men.

But in Lancashire and south Cumbria, only 23.5 per cent of women and 21.7 per cent of men survived for the same time period.

Nick Ormiston-Smith, statistical information manager for Cancer Research UK, is concerned to see such wide disparities existing.

“These gaps are likely to be due to deprivation and more needs to be done to tackle this inequality to ensure everyone has the same chance of surviving the disease, no matter where in the country they live,” he said.

The research does hold some good news for Worcestershire residents, revealing that the area has survival rates better than the national averages for five of the eight common forms of cancer studied.

One-year survival rates are above the national average for oesophagus, colon, lung, breast and prostate cancers, with bladder, cervix and stomach cancer rates lagging behind.

Despite the variations, the research also found that one-year and five-year survival rates increased for all eight common cancers between 2002-2006.