UK cancer treatment falls behind other countries

decorative People in the UK were treated with chemotherapy and radiotherapy less often than in comparable countries and faced long waits for treatments, according to two new studies led by UCL researchers. For the two papers, published in The Lancet Oncology and part-funded by Cancer Research UK, an international team of researchers examined data from over 780,000 people with cancer diagnosed between 2012 and 2017 in four comparable countries (Australia, Canada, Norway and the UK). Eight cancer types were included: oesophageal, stomach, colon, rectal, liver, pancreatic, lung and ovarian cancer. two studies by the International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership (ICBP) are the first to examine treatment differences for eight cancer types in countries across three continents. Building on previous research, the findings provide further insights into why cancer survival in the UK lags behind internationally. The research concluded that: There was stark variation in the treatment of all'eight cancer types and people with cancer in the UK received chemotherapy and radiotherapy less often than other countries. Fewer lung cancer patients in the UK (27.7%) were treated with chemotherapy compared to Canada (35.