First Comprehensive Report on Colorectal Cancer (CRC) Care in Europe and Australia Reveals Urgent Need for Action

London (ots/PRNewswire) -

- Few Countries Have Prioritised This Potentially Preventable and
Curable Cancer

The first cross-country report on the management and funding of
colorectal cancer (CRC) reveals an urgent need for action to improve
the survival of patients diagnosed with this common cancer in Europe
and Australia. Key findings from the report published today by the
London School of Economics (LSE) confirm that few countries have
prioritized CRC screening and treatment. Problems exist with data
collection from cancer registries on which to base research and
policy decisions, there is limited public and political awareness of
CRC, few formal screening programmes exist, treatment guidelines are
variable and there is generally poor or delayed access to treatment
and slow adoption of new technologies (surgical, new targeted
anti-cancer drugs, etc) that can significantly improve outcomes and
increase survival.(1)

CRC is the second most common cause of death across all cancer
types in men and women in Europe accounting for over 200,000 deaths
in 2006(2). CRC will affect more than one in 20 people in their
lifetime with 400,000 new cases diagnosed every year. If diagnosed
and treated early it is potentially preventable and curable, early
detection and treatment could mean that 90% of people survive.(3)

Professor Panos Kanavos, lead author of the report and senior
lecturer at LSE, said "This report is the first to give healthcare
providers, policy makers and patient groups the detailed evidence
needed to create and deliver sustainable standards and plans that
will ensure people throughout Europe affected by this devastating
cancer have equal access to a better future."

The report urges prioritization of this potentially preventable
and curable cancer through greater pan-European co-operation and
delivery of a concerted, integrated prevention programme, including
screening and treatment of CRC. Member states need to give CRC a more
significant voice within the global community.

Commenting on the report, Jola Gore Booth, Founder of
europacolon, the only pan-European advocacy organisation dedicated to
CRC said, "Compared to other high incidence cancers CRC has been
largely ignored. That is why we see so much variability around Europe
in the diagnosis and care of people with this common and highly
treatable cancer. Now that we have a clearer understanding of where
action needs to be taken we need to work towards saving even more
lives."

Key study results

Seventeen countries in Europe in addition to Australia are
included in the report. A 'scorecard' of positive indicators (factors
which improve CRC care) and negative indicators (factors which create
barriers to best care) was created by the LSE team to show what
countries do well and where they have room for improvement.

Overall only a minority of countries score over 50% for positive
points (including Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, UK
and Australia) although none scored over 75% showing that each
country has room for improvement.

Key findings include:

Data collection:

- Cancer care data collection remains poor in Europe. There are
significant deficiencies in terms of gathering and recording cancer
statistics - as well as CRC-related healthcare expenditure. This
means that estimating healthcare requirements for future colorectal
cancer patients becomes difficult and planning for the right level of
service delivery prone to major errors.

Screening policies and prevention:

- CRC is one of the few cancers amenable to cancer screening
activities. If detected at its pre-cancerous stage, CRC can be
prevented. Despite these facts and in addition to rising numbers of
people with CRC only a minority of countries participate in formal
screening for CRC (where an eligible population is invited for
testing) and some countries have no CRC screening initiatives at all.

- Of further concern is the availability of endoscopy (use of a
long, flexible tube with a light and a camera lens at the end to
examine the inside of the colon) as positive screened tests must be
investigated further.

- To date only a limited number of countries have CRC-specific
patient groups and few have active Government driven campaigns which
further reduces the visibility of this cancer to the public and
policymakers.

Treatment:

- Treatment for CRC consists primarily of surgery, often
supplemented by chemotherapy and radiotherapy in rectal cancer. All
countries reported issues with access to all types of CRC treatment
modalities.

- Treatment guidelines are essential for evidence-based practice
towards CRC however many countries do not have guidelines for CRC and
only half of the countries with guidelines have policies in place to
monitor how they are used.

- Overall the evidence on the use of targeted drug treatments
which can improve survival for patients with advanced CRC suggests
that only limited numbers of eligible patients have access to these
novel therapies.

Surveillance (follow-up):

- Follow-up of patients, both those treated for CRC and those
treated in the pre-cancerous stage is important to detect any
recurrence of disease and will increase the likelihood of a cure and
thus increased survival. Currently there are large variations in
follow-up practice and limited monitoring of patients across
countries.

Professor Richard Sullivan, Chairman, European Cancer Research
Managers Foundation and co-author of the new report concludes, "This
first ever cross-country study delivers a wealth of data that give a
clear mandate for change in the way many countries tackle CRC. Whilst
outcomes have been improving for many CRC patients many deficits in
the delivery of care - adherence to evidence-based guidelines, lack
of screening programmes, the use of sub-optimal treatment whether
surgical or chemotherapeutic - remain and must be urgently
addressed."

Notes for Editors:

- The report is published on the LSE website:
http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/LSEHealth/

- The countries involved in the survey on which the report is
based are: Australia, Czech republic, Denmark, France, Germany,
Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania,
Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, and UK. Feedback is still to
be received from Belgium, Finland and Switzerland; this will be
included in a later update.

- CRC predominantly affects the over 50s(4) with risk increasing
with age and by 85 years the risk of diagnosis is around 1 in 10 for
men and 1 in 15 for women.(5)

- The 5 year survival rate for CRC is 53.7 %; compared to 81.1%
for breast cancer 77% for prostate cancer, although for lung cancer
survival is poor at 12.6%.(6)

- Funding for the report was provided by F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd

References

---------------------------------

(1)Kanavos P, Colorectal Cancer in Europe and Australia, LSE
Health, June 2008 http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/LSEHealth/

(2) Ferlay J, AutierP et al. Annals of Oncology 18: 581-592, 2007

(3) Vogelaar I, van Ballegooijen M, et al. Cancer 2006 Aug
24;107(7):1624-33

(4) Meyerhardt JA, Zu AX et al. J.Clin Onc. 24:1892-1897

(5) The Cancer Council Australia.
http://www.cancer.org.au/aboutcancer/FactsFigures.htm.

(6) Berrino F, et al. Lancet 2007
DOI:10.1016/S1470-2045(07)70245-0.

ots Originaltext: Roche Pharmaceuticals
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Contact:
For further Information please contact: Panos Kanavos, LSE Health,
Mail: p.g.kanavos@lse.ac.uk; Diane Lorton, Galliard Healthcare, Tel:
+44(0)207663-2265, Mb: +44(0)7717-531-823