Prof Reinhard Busse talks to ecancer about the large variation in 5 year survival rates between countries in Europe at the European Forum on Oncology in Berlin, May 2012.

Prof Busse discusses the heterogeneity of cancer outcomes and the large discrepancies between countries, such as Norway and Ireland, whose five year survival rate in cervical cancer differs by 20%. Similar results are also seen in colon and breast cancer.

While cervical cancer now has a vaccine, data can only be observed retrospectively and results from the 1990s and mid-2000s show little to no change in survival and development of the disease. In breast and colon cancer, the development of the disease has reduced, but without a reduction in variations between countries.