NZ cancer survival near bottom, study shows

New Zealand is near the bottom for cancer survival compared with six other countries that have similar health systems, new research shows.

The Cancer Society says the benchmarking study, published in The Lancet Oncology, shows cancer control progress has stalled in New Zealand and a well-funded cancer plan is needed to address the issue.

Cancer Society medical director Dr Chris Jackson, an author of the new international research, said Kiwis were dying of cancer who might otherwise have survived if they lived in another country.

Using data from 3.9 million cancer cases in seven high-income countries – Australia, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom – the study looked at cancer survival rates between 1995-99 to 2010-14.

Survival rates for seven different cancers – oesophagus, stomach, colon, rectum, pancreas, lung and ovary – had improved during the 20-year period, but the level and pace of improvement varied by country and cancer type.

For the 2010-2014 period, the study found cancer survival rates were better in Australia, Canada and Norway than in New Zealand, Denmark, Ireland and the UK.

New Zealand had the second worst five-year survival rate (the percentage of patients alive five years after diagnosis) for pancreatic, ovarian and lung cancer (8.2 per cent, 36.3 per cent and 15.5 per cent respectively) for 2010-14.

For five-year survival, the country also had the lowest level of improvement for every type of cancer bar one across the 20-year period.

Jackson said this was most obvious for lung and colon cancer survival rates. Since 1995-99, New Zealand had gone from having one of the top three rates to being towards the bottom of the pack.

This month, the Government released an eagerly awaited 10-year cancer action plan and announced $60 million in extra funding for drug-buying agency Pharmac to fund new medicines, including cancer treatments.

The plan’s release came ‘‘not a moment too soon’’, Jackson said.

Cancer is the leading cause of death in New Zealand. Each year about 23,000 people are diagnosed with cancer, and 10,000 people die.

Ma¯ ori are nearly twice as likely to die from cancer as non-Ma¯ ori, according to Ministry of Health figures.