Epidemiology of Cancer: Prevalence, Incidence of Neoplastic Diseases and Trends in Survival in Europe

Geographically, Europe consists of 40 countries, some of them are members of the European Union. We examined the estimates of cancer incidence, mortality and 5-year survival for the four most frequent cancers representing about 50% of cancer burden in the European countries. The cancer burden and the increasing trends in incidence of the most common cancers in Europe are of concern, in particular those at younger ages. The differences in survival of patients with cancer are wide for patients diagnosed up to 2002, with the highest survival in northern and central Europe and the lowest survival in the UK and eastern Europe. The pattern observed suggests that further improvements could be made by applying proven treatment protocols and ensuring that all cancer patients have access to early diagnosis and high quality treatment. As a final point, we reported the 4th edition of the European Code against Cancer.