Could Access To Cancer Treatment Affect Your Recovery?

The methods that doctors use to treat our cancer could be affected by the country we live in, suggests a new report. Research by Austria’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) highlights how European countries differ when it comes to radiotherapy.

Best treatment?

There are several different ways that medics use to try and get us back to wellness after we’ve been diagnosed with cancer, such as chemotherapy and surgery. About 50 per cent of us could see good results from radiotherapy, but the report by the IAEA indicated that some places in Europe don’t have enough machines to offer the treatment to those of us who need it most. Figures from Cancer Research UK show there are 3.2 million cases of cancer every year throughout Europe, meaning nearly half of this number could see differences to their wellbeing with radiotherapy – but what countries can cope with this need?

Europe’s facilities

Researchers taking part in the study found out the number of machines available in each country in the UK and on the continent. They worked out how many of us could be treated by the machines, then compared this number to the cancer rates in the individual countries. This produced figures showing how many could be treated by the machines, as well as numbers reflecting those that may not be offered radiotherapy. The research revealed that in Germany and the UK over a fifth of us may not get the radiotherapy we need, with similar figures calculated for Austria. Approximately 19 per cent of cancer sufferers in Portugal and 16 per cent in Italy may also not get treated this way due to a shortage in radiotherapy equipment.

Way forward

Radiotherapy isn’t the only treatment option for cancer, but experts are currently trying to raise awareness to authorities about the importance of having the right equipment to tackle this condition. Cancer Research UK estimates that we need to double the number of radiotherapy machines we have in the UK so all of us who need this treatment get it. The group says that as the population ages we’ll be more in need of the equipment than ever in several years’ time, so governments ought to address this deficit now.