Aug 22

　　Cancer patients' chances of survival vary widely among European countries. Franco Berrino and a team of researchers from Eurocare studied the outcome of 2.7m new cases diagnosed between 1995 and 1999 in 23 countries. Five years after diagnosis, survival rates were highest overall in the Nordic region (except Denmark) and lowest in central Europe. Health spending is a factor, with higher national expenditure usually correlating with higher survival rates. Denmark and Britain are exceptions. They have lower rates than those in countries with similar levels of spending, perhaps suggesting ineffective use of resources. The findings are published in the latest issue of the Lancet Oncology.

　　癌症关怀

　　癌症病人的生存机率在欧洲国家间差别很大。法兰科·贝利诺和欧洲关怀研究小组研究了23个国家1995年至1999年间确诊的270万癌症新病例。确诊后5年生存率最高的是北欧地区（丹麦除外），最低的是中欧。健康支出是一个因素。国家健康支出高的，通常生存率也高。丹麦和英国是例外。两国的健康支出和其他北欧国家水平相当，但是癌症生存率却更低，这表明可能资源使用效率低下。这些研究结果发表在最近一期的《柳叶刀肿瘤学》杂志上。