Survival from cancer of the colon in England and Wales up to 2001

Colon cancer is one of the most common malignancies in adults worldwide ( Parkin, 2001 ). About 17 000 new cases are diagnosed each year in England and Wales, where it is the second and third most frequent cancer in women and men, respectively. Over the last 25 years, incidence has risen slightly in men, but has remained fairly stable in women ( Quinn et al, 2001 ). Of the improvements in survival reported in Europe during the 1990s, one of the largest absolute increases was for large bowel cancer (colon and rectum combined). Survival increased more slowly in the UK during this period than in other western European countries ( Sant et al, 2001 ). Substantial deprivation gradients in colon cancer survival have been reported, both in England and Wales ( Coleman et al, 1999 ) and in other countries ( Auvinen, 1992 ; Monnet et al, 1993 ). These have been attributed in part to differential access to chemotherapy ( Corazziari et al, 2004 ) or specialised treatment centres ( Herbert et al, 2002 ; Satagopan et al, 2004 ).