Cancer survival rate in Malta on the low side

Nearly half of Maltese patients die within five years from being diagnosed with cancer, according to a new EU-wide scientific study which shows that the cancer survival rate in Malta is behind that of many other countries.

According to the study, published in The Lancet Oncology, a specialised UK medical journal, the survival rate of Maltese cancer patients has improved over the past years but many other EU member states are achieving better results.

The Eurocare study, as it is known, includes data from 83 cancer registries in 23 countries. The researchers looked at what happened to 2.7 million new cancer patients between 1996 and 2002.

During the period, 8,410 Maltese patients were diagnosed with some kind of cancer. Five years on, 54.6 per cent of female patients and 42.3 per cent of male patients had survived. The mean survival rate stood at 48.4 per cent.

Overall, Nordic countries, with the notable exception of Denmark, have the highest cancer survival rates in Europe. The researchers concluded that if all countries had the mean survival rate of 57 per cent found in Norway, Sweden and Finland, there would be about 150,000, or 12 per cent, fewer deaths in the five years after diagnosis.

In Malta, survival rates were low for lung cancer and high for skin and breast cancer.

In general, the study shows that cancer survival is improving across Europe and the wide gaps between survival rates in the EU's member states are narrowing.

"Increases in survival and decreases in geographic differences over time, which are mainly due to improvements in healthcare services in countries with poor survival, might indicate better cancer care," Italian researcher Franco Berrino and his colleagues wrote in The Lancet Oncology.

The scientists also found a clear link between high rates of survival and the amount a country spent on its healthcare, with the exception of Britain and Denmark, which fell behind other countries with similar national health budgets.

According to the study, Malta is in the second lowest spending bracket in Europe with the average expenditure per person standing at about €1,500 per year. Spain, Portugal and Ireland are in the same category.

"If survival in one country is substantially lower than that in other countries, especially those of a similar wealth, the health system is probably not functioning as it should," the researchers wrote.

The authors of the report concluded their study by calling for the development of a "pan-European cancer plan" to promote modern diagnostic and treatment facilities.