Overall, patients with colorectal cancer live longer in the United States than in Europe, according to a report from Italy.

The findings suggest that the “differences in survival observed between the USA and Europe are real, and reflect earlier diagnosis in the USA,” Dr. Laura Ciccolallo told Reuters Health.

“This is important, because it suggests in turn that the lower survival in Europe is a problem that is potentially remediable if adequate attention can be given to earlier diagnosis and more rapid investigation and treatment,” she added.

Based on data from 10 population-based cancer registries, Ciccolallo - from the Istituto Nazionale per lo Studio e la Cura dei Tumori, Milan - and her colleagues found that the greater likelihood of a colon cancer patient dying compared to someone without cancer was 1-1/2 to 2 higher in Europe than in the US.

This so-called ‘excess mortality’ was even higher after accounting for age and sex, the team reports in the medical journal Gut. Excess mortality in Europe was highest during the first year after diagnosis, the investigators note, and was higher for women and for patients of advanced age.

More cancers in the US than in Europe (54 percent vs. 48 percent) were diagnosed at an early stage, the report indicates, and more could be removed surgically.

“The differences in survival between the USA and Europe are likely to reflect differences in the speed of diagnosis and the stage of disease at least as much as any differences in the efficacy of treatment,” Ciccolallo added.

SOURCE: Gut, February 2005.