Doctor’s surgery sign, from Victoria Reay on Flickr
Embarrassment and not wanting to waste their doctors' time are more frequently reported by British people than in other countries, according to new research led by UCL and King's College London. This may be holding British people back from presenting early with symptoms of cancer. The international study, published today in the British Journal of Cancer , is the largest of its kind, and suggests that cultural factors such as the British 'stiff upper lip' may help explain some of the differences in cancer survival rates between the UK and other high-income countries. The study is part of the International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership (ICBP), a unique global collaboration, which has previously found that for lung, breast, bowel and ovary cancers diagnosed between 1995 and 2007, Australia, Canada, Sweden and Norway had the highest rates of survival, and Denmark and UK the lowest, despite all the countries having similarly good cancer registration systems and good access to health care. For example, one year survival of those diagnosed with lung cancer between 2000 and 2002 for the UK was 28% compared to 41% in Australia. The researchers therefore wanted to find out whether survival rates for a country might be influenced by the population's cancer awareness and beliefs. In partnership with Cancer Research UK and Ipsos MORI, the team surveyed 19,079 men and women aged 50 and older in Australia (4,002 individuals), Canada (2,064), Denmark (2,000), Norway (2,009), Sweden (2,039) and the UK (6,965).
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