The NHS cancer plan may have helped boost survival rates in England, a study suggests - but experts are split over its real impact. BBC NEWS
A comparison with Welsh data suggests "some beneficial effect" of the England cancer strategy launched in 2000.
But a leading cancer expert said the Lancet Oncology paper showed no "striking" improvement despite a huge amount of cash pumped in.
Cancer tsar Professor Mike Richards said both countries had seen benefits.
The study comes as the Office for National Statistics publishes the latest figures on cancer survival up to 2007.
For cancers of the stomach, colon, rectum, uterus, ovary and kidney, survival trends in England improved after 2001, even without screening or the widespread use of effective new treatments.
But bladder cancer, Hodgkin's lymphoma and leukaemia all showed a fall in survival, the figures showed.
The team, led by Professor Michel Coleman from the Cancer Research UK Cancer Survival Group at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in London, said the findings did not produce a "definitive verdict" and called for more detailed analysis on specific parts of the cancer plan, such as shorter waiting times and the creation of multidisciplinary teams.
A comparison with Welsh data suggests "some beneficial effect" of the England cancer strategy launched in 2000.
But a leading cancer expert said the Lancet Oncology paper showed no "striking" improvement despite a huge amount of cash pumped in.
Cancer tsar Professor Mike Richards said both countries had seen benefits.
The study comes as the Office for National Statistics publishes the latest figures on cancer survival up to 2007.
For cancers of the stomach, colon, rectum, uterus, ovary and kidney, survival trends in England improved after 2001, even without screening or the widespread use of effective new treatments.
But bladder cancer, Hodgkin's lymphoma and leukaemia all showed a fall in survival, the figures showed.
The team, led by Professor Michel Coleman from the Cancer Research UK Cancer Survival Group at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in London, said the findings did not produce a "definitive verdict" and called for more detailed analysis on specific parts of the cancer plan, such as shorter waiting times and the creation of multidisciplinary teams.
As usual it doesn’t come down to money but “proper” treatment by caring medics.
"All progress occurs because people dare to be different." Harry Millner
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