Annali dell'Istituto superiore di sanita
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Comparing cancer survival among the European countries is important to evaluate the performance of Health Care Systems and reduce disparities in access to diagnostic and treatment facilities. The EUROCARE project compares survival in Europe since the nineties. The EUROCARE- 4 analysed 2 690 922 adult cancer cases from 83 cancer registries in 22 European countries, diagnosed in 1995-1999, and followed to December 2003. ⋯ For all cancers, five-year survival was very variable also for the different sites mix. Continuing to monitoring cancer survival in Europe is important to reduce differences in access to diagnostic and therapeutic facilities. After publication of EUROCARE results, UK and Denmark developed a National cancer plan to improve time of diagnosis and treatment.