title: Funding UK cancer care: time for a level playing field?
abstract: Improving cancer survival rates is a UK priority and equity of access to high quality cancer irrespective of geography is a key principle. Surgery, radiation therapy and systemic therapy remain the cornerstone of the multidisciplinary management of cancer. However, costs of cancer care continue to escalate. A recent review (1) estimated the global costs of cancer care caused by death and disability as US $895 billion (excluding indirect medical costs and based on 2008 figures). Approximately 49% of patients are cured by surgery, 40% by radiotherapy alone or in combination with other treatments and 11% by systemic therapy. With > 90,000 patients per annum treated with curative intent by radiotherapy in the UK, one would anticipate that access to modern radiotherapy techniques would have a high priority. However, there are substantial differences in the NHS uptake of new anti-cancer agents and advanced radiation technologies. In this article, these differences are explored and recommendations made for addressing them.
authors: Edinburgh Cancer Centre, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK. I.Kunkler@ed.ac.uk
authors: I
authors: I
authors: Kunkler
mesh_terms: D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000191:economics; D005544:Forecasting; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000191:economics / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000601:surgery; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals / Q000191:economics; D016634:Radiosurgery / Q000191:economics / Q000639:trends; D050397:Radiotherapy, Intensity-Modulated / Q000191:economics / Q000639:trends; D012109:Research Support as Topic; D013222:State Medicine; D018581:Technology Transfer
chemical_list: D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals