Cancer survival rates in Europe reflect geographical and economic disparities between countries, with data confirming that there are large gaps in survival chances between Western and Eastern European countries. This difference is due to differences in health care, the availability of treatments, and the speed of diagnosis.
In 2021, cancer was the second leading cause of death in the European Union, killing 1.1 million people, 21.6% of total deaths. Despite significant efforts to improve diagnosis and treatment, the chances of survival remain markedly different between countries.
Professor Michel Coleman, a researcher at the CONCORD project, defines the concept of “survival” as the probability of survival, which is not a “fixed rate”, but a term expressing the chance of survival during specific periods such as one year or five years after diagnosis.
The mortality data includes 24 countries in the European Union, along with five other European countries, namely the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Turkey, reaching 29 countries. According to 2019 data, lung cancer was the number one cause of cancer deaths in men (24%) and women (15%). It is followed by colorectal cancer (12% for both sexes), prostate cancer (10% for men) and breast cancer (16% for women).
Pancreatic and liver cancer play a major role in mortality, as the first type (pancreas) caused 6% of deaths in men and 8% of women, while liver cancer accounted for 4% to 8% of total deaths.
Lung cancer survival rates vary widely, with Bulgaria having the lowest rate (7.7%), while Switzerland and Latvia were in the lead (20.4%). The average survival in the EU was 15%. Germany (18.3%), France (17.3%) and Italy (15.9%) recorded higher rates than Spain (13.5%) and the United Kingdom (13.3%).
Colon cancer survival rates are more optimistic, ranging from 51.1% in Croatia to 72.1% in Cyprus, with an average of 60% in the European Union. The Nordic countries, along with Switzerland and Iceland, recorded rates of over 64%. The highest percentage (64.8%) was in Germany compared to the largest economies, while the UK recorded only 60%.
Prostate cancer is one of the types of cancer with high survival rates, the average survival rate in the European Union is 87%. Cyprus had the highest rate (99.2%), followed by Lithuania (94.3%) and Belgium (93.8%). In contrast, Bulgaria recorded the lowest rate (68.3%).
Breast cancer survival rates are also high, with an average of 82% in the European Union. Cyprus topped with 92.8%, followed by the Nordic countries and Germany. Survival rates in the largest European economies ranged from 85.2% in Spain to 86.7% in France.
Survival rates from pancreatic and liver cancer are among the lowest in Europe, with an average survival rate from pancreatic cancer of 9%, with the lowest in Malta (5.5%) and the highest in Latvia (13.7%). As for liver cancer, survival rates ranged from 4.2% in Estonia to 20.7% in Belgium, with an average of 12% in the European Union.
The reasons for the difference in survival rates between European countries
Professor Volker Arndt from the German Cancer Research Center noted that the disparity in healthcare infrastructure and internal organization significantly affect the chances of survival, which explains the gap between the UK and Germany. For his part, Professor Michel Coleman explains that there are two main factors behind the disparity in survival rates, namely:
Diagnosis stage: early diagnosis plays a crucial role in improving the chances of survival, as the tumor can be treated before it spreads, which varies from country to country.
Availability of treatments: countries differ in the availability of advanced treatments, especially radiation therapy, which is an effective treatment for about 50% of cancer cases. Western and rich countries such as Germany and France therefore have better health systems compared to Eastern Europe.
