This book is a compilation and discussion of data on the survival of cancer patients in 12 European countries. Measures of incidence, survival and mortality are critical to the interpretation of data on progress in the fight against cancer, and in the evaluation of the overall effectiveness of cancer control programmes. Randomized controlled clinical trials have shown many modern protocols for cancer treatment to be more effective than earlier treatments, but until now, comparable population-based survival figures have raraly been available. EUROCARE is a concerted action among European cancer registries, aimed at estimating and comparing the survival of cancer patients in different European populations. The rationale behind this project is to optimize the comparability of survival data by using an agreed and standard definition of the diseases for which survival is to be compared, and by taking due account of basic demographic variables. The EUROCARE Working Group succeeded in collecting, checking and editing data on cancer survival from 30 cancer registries in 12 countries, and established a database covering some 800,000 cancer patients in the period 1978-85 and followed up to the end of 1990. This database forms the raw material for this monograph.

CD-ROM contains: Survival rates for incidence period 1985-89 -- Time trends of survival for four incidence periods 1970-80, 1981-83, 1984-86, 1987-89 -- Page views of main tables from text.

This contributed volume addresses the link between the social environment and cancer in Europe. The authors document the wide range and diverse trends in cancer incidence and patient survival in Europe, and they identify the main mechanisms and key influences that underlie these inequalities. They suggest a series of actions and programmes to tackle these inequalities in Europe, within the conceptual framework of intervention research. The influence of the social environment on the risk of suffering and dying from cancer is obviously a global phenomenon, as evidenced by a growing number of studies and books. In part, the underlying mechanisms are universal. Given the availability of a new standardised measure for social deprivation in Europe (the European Deprivation Index), the networking of population-based cancer registries across Europe as efficient surveillance tools, the increasing comparability of the organisation of care in European countries, and the recent launch of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, this extensive review of social inequalities in cancer on a European scale is both relevant and timely. The book consists of 21 chapters organised in four sections: Part I – General Considerations and Methodologic Aspects Part II – Social Disparities in Cancer Incidence and Survival – Reports Part III – Social Disparities in Cancer Incidence and Survival – Mechanisms Part IV – Towards an Evidence-Based Policy for Tackling Social Inequalities in Cancer Social Environment and Cancer in Europe: Towards an Evidence-Based Public Health Policy is a unique resource that presents up-to-date methods for analysing quantitative data. It focusses on inequalities in cancer incidence and survival within the wider framework of inequalities in health. This book will be an essential reference for policy-makers, researchers, public health professionals, social scientists and oncologists.

This atlas illustrates the latest available data on the cancer epidemic, showing causes, stages of development, and prevalence rates of different types of cancers by gender, income group, and region. It also examines the cost of the disease, both in terms of health care and commercial interests, and the steps being taken to curb the epidemic, from research and screening to cancer management programs and health education.