Cancer patients in poorer nations have much lower survival rates after diagnosis compared with those in richer nations, says a global study (Lancet Oncology; doi:10.1016/S1470-2045(09)70335-3). It attributes the stark gap to weak, or non-existent in some instances, treatment and diagnostic services, and emphasises the need for urgent investments in oncology health services, especially in sub-Saharan African countries.

The study examined the five year age standardised relative survival experience of 341  658 cancer patients diagnosed with one of 10 cancers during 1990-2001 in 25 regions in 12 low and middle income nations from Africa, Asia, and Central …