title: Is England closing the international gap in cancer survival?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  We provide an up-to-date international comparison of cancer survival, assessing whether England is 'closing the gap' compared with other high-income countries.
  
  
  METHODS
  Net survival was estimated using national, population-based, cancer registrations for 1.9 million patients diagnosed with a cancer of the stomach, colon, rectum, lung, breast (women) or ovary in England during 1995-2012. Trends during 1995-2009 were compared with estimates for Australia, Canada, Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Clinicians were interviewed to help interpret trends.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Survival from all cancers remained lower in England than in Australia, Canada, Norway and Sweden by 2005-2009. For some cancers, survival improved more in England than in other countries between 1995-1999 and 2005-2009; for example, 1-year survival from stomach, rectal, lung, breast and ovarian cancers improved more than in Australia and Canada. There has been acceleration in lung cancer survival improvement in England recently, with average annual improvement in 1-year survival rising to 2% during 2010-2012. Survival improved more in Denmark than in England for rectal and lung cancers between 1995-1999 and 2005-2009.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Survival has increased in England since the mid-1990s in the context of strategic reform in cancer control, however, survival remains lower than in comparable developed countries and continued investment is needed to close the international survival gap.
authors.affiliation: Cancer Survival Group, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT, UK.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Walters
authors.affiliation: Cancer Survival Group, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT, UK.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Benitez-Majano
authors.affiliation: Cancer Survival Group, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT, UK.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Muller
authors.affiliation: Cancer Survival Group, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT, UK.
authors.forename: Michel P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Coleman
authors.affiliation: Cancer Survival Group, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT, UK.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Allemani
authors.affiliation: Cancer Survival Group, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT, UK.|Department of Gynaecological Oncology, Royal Marsden Hospital, London SW3 6JJ, UK.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Butler
authors.affiliation: Glenfield Hospital, University Hospitals of Leicester, Groby Road, Leicester LE3 9QP, UK.
authors.forename: Mick
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Peake
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Oslo University Hospital, Ullevaal, PO Box 4956, Nydalen, NO-0424 Oslo, Norway.|K. G. Jebsen Colorectal Cancer Research Centre, Oslo University Hospital, PO Box 4953, Nydalen, NO-0424 Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Marianne Grønlie
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Guren
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, Akademiska sjukhuset, SE-751 85 Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Bengt
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Glimelius
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Gävle Hospital, SE-801 87 Gävle, Sweden.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bergström
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgical Sciences, Uppsala University, Akademiska sjukhuset, SE-751 85 Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Påhlman
authors.affiliation: Cancer Survival Group, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT, UK.
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rachet
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D019049:Developed Countries; D004739:England / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality*; D058996:Quality Improvement; D019984:Quality Indicators, Health Care; D055815:Young Adult