Young cancer patient
Alexandra Munoz, 5, who lost her hair due to chemotherapy to treat a malignant brain tumor, climbs stairs in the cancer ward of the Luis Calvo Mackenna Hospital in Santiago October 20, 2014. The wigs, handmade by Italian-Chilean hair stylist Marcelo Avatte and his team, have helped the children regain their self-esteem and confidence during cancer treatment. Renowned for making customised wigs, Avatte has donated more than 300 wigs since 2009 and says he was motivated to begin the project by the pain he felt when his own son lost his hair during chemotherapy. Picture taken October 20, 2014. Reuters

Survival rates in England remain low against other countries with risks of cancer and similar health systems, a new study says. The researchers suggest late cancer diagnosis, poorer access to treatment and lesser investment in health systems may be the reasons for the survival gap.

The study, published in the British Journal of Cancer, compared the survival trends of English citizens with figures for Australia, Canada, Denmark, Norway and Sweden between 1995 and 2009. Researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine compared the figures for colon, breast, lung, ovarian, rectal and stomach cancers with data from the five countries.

With the data, NHS England stated that survival figures have never been higher in the country. In recent estimates shared by the Macmillan Cancer Support, there are 2.5 million people in UK who have had cancer diagnosis, an increase of almost half a million in the previous five years.

In five-year survival for all six cancers monitored, researchers found England remain lower than Australia, Canada, Norway and Sweden. However, the figures were measures of the effectiveness of health systems, lead author Dr Michel Coleman clarified to BBC, not the performance of doctors in treating the disease.

But despite the survival gap, Coleman and co-authors noted the speed of improvement in England was faster than any of the countries. They mentioned the latest improvement in survival from lung cancer, and the five-year survival from breast cancer improved than Australia, Canada, Norway and Sweden.

The cancer Chief of NHS England Sean Duffy said the improvements in survival rates are due to the “work for earlier diagnosis and better outcomes [are] having a positive impact,” and added the officials will be "working hard to ensure momentum on these areas is maintained as we implement the recommendations of the recent Cancer Taskforce strategy."

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