United Kingdom: According to the new study from Cancer Research UK, the overall cancer death rate has fallen by 16 percent since the organization was founded. Each year in the early 2000s, approximately 310 of every 100,000 people in the UK died from cancer. The number has now decreased to around 260.
The data also shows bigger falls in death rates in some cancers, such as cervical cancer, with a 33 percent decrease. Lung cancer survival rates have also doubled from 10 percent in the mid-2000s to 20 percent across the country.
Research UK remarked that the progress is partly due to the research it has funded into early diagnosis and treatment.
“Improvements in cancer death rates are a result of widespread contributions from across the research landscape. But it’s clear that CRUK’s impact has been an important part of this progress,” the charity observed.
About $6.56 billion has been invested since the Research Organization was founded in 2002, involving 3,000 researchers across 350 institutions. The organisation plans at least another $1.82 billion on research over the next five years.
Chief Executive Ms. Michelle Mitchell remarked that “every penny of money donated has helped to revolutionise what we know about cancer and saved many lives.”
According to the chief executive, there is “still a long way to go” as cancer targets were still being missed and the UK lags behind comparable countries on survival rates.