CANCER survival rates in Scotland are the worst in Europe, lagging behind countries such as Poland and Slovenia, it was revealed today.
The comprehensive study of survival rates found that Scotland was at the bottom of a league table of 22 countries, despite massive spending on the NHS.
Cancer experts blamed late diagnosis and long waiting lists for the poor results. The study fo
und Scotland had comparable survival rates to Eastern European countries, who spent only a third as much on health.
Researchers found only 48 per cent of Scottish women survived for five years after being diagnosed between 2000 and 2002. This compares with 52.7 per cent in England, and 61.8 per cent in Iceland.
Only 40.2 per cent of men who contracted cancer survived after five years, with Scotland's survival rate just ahead of the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Poland.
Eurocare-4, the largest investigation of its kind, analysed survival data for 2.7 million patients. The study compared five-year survival rates for eight common cancers.
It found that the gap between rich and poor countries was narrowing, but survival in Britain remained below average.
The findings led the journal which published the results to deliver a crushing verdict on the Department of Health's cancer plan, developed to tackle cancer in England.
In an editorial, The Lancet Oncology said: "Has the cancer plan worked? The short answer is seemingly no."
The study found Scotland also came bottom in the rankings for other kinds of cancer, including kidney cancer. The survival rate for stomach cancer was only 16.6 per cent, less than half that of Italy.
The UK spends up to £1500 per head on health every year, but has similar survival rates for Hodgkin's disease as Poland, which spends a third as much.
Bowel cancer had a survival rate of 53.8 per cent, lung 12.3 per cent, breast 78.9 per cent, prostate 75.7 per cent, ovarian 36.3 per cent, melanoma (skin cancer) 81.6 per cent, testis 94.2 per cent, and Hodgkin's disease 80 per cent.
For the first five cancers, survival rates were highest in Nordic countries, apart from Denmark, and central Europe, intermediate in southern Europe, lower in the UK and Ireland, and worst in eastern Europe.
Survival rates of the last three cancers varied little between different countries.
Prof Ian Kunkler, of the Western General Hospital, one of the research team, said waiting lists for radiotherapy were partly to blame.
He said: "Although there has been a substantial investment in radiotherapy as a result of the National Cancer Plan, there is still significant shortfall which doesn't take into account the increased incidence of the disease.
"We have good evidence that survival for lung cancer has been compromised by long waiting lists for radiotherapy treatment."
Shona Robinson, the Scottish minister for public health, was reported as saying: "While I cannot comment in detail on an unpublished report, the new Scottish government has made cancer a top clinical priority and we are committed to improving the speed of diagnosis, care and treatment for patients.
"Cancer services have developed and improved significantly with more doctors, nurses and health care professionals and state-of-the-art equipment in all five cancer centres in Scotland."
