Cancer report: Prevention and early detection are important

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The current “Austrian Cancer Report”, which was presented on Tuesday, paints a positive picture of care. Innovations would be well received by patients, which is also reflected in the increased survival rates. Nevertheless, half of all cancer deaths could be prevented through better prevention.

“We can be very, very proud of everything that is possible in Austria, everything that succeeds,” emphasizes Wolfgang Hilbe, president of the Austrian Society for Hematology and Medical Oncology (OeGHO). For example, a significant improvement in survival rates has been achieved in recent years for tumors of the kidney, neck and head and stomach, explains Monika Hackl, head of the National Cancer Registry.

A good prognosis is achieved in breast, prostate, thyroid and testicular cancers. Here, the cumulative relative survival three years after diagnosis is 90.6 to 96.6 percent. At the other end of the spectrum, lung, esophageal, liver and pancreatic cancers are at 30.2 to just 15.6 percent, Hackl said.

Prevention is the most important thing
According to Paul Sevelda, president of the Austrian Cancer Aid, prevention and early detection are still neglected. To prevent 50% of all cancer deaths in Europe, the following recommendations should be implemented: regular exercise and a healthy diet to prevent obesity, vaccination against HPV, hepatitis B and C, avoidance of nicotine and excessive alcohol consumption and participation in the recommended investigations for early detection. “The best cancer therapy is not getting it,” Sevelda emphasizes the importance of prevention.

New techniques and support for patients
There have been groundbreaking innovations in healthcare in recent years, some 130 new medicines in the past five years, the effectiveness of which is continuously monitored. Cancer Aid’s Ansgar Weltermann also mentioned molecular pathology, nuclear medicine diagnostics and robotic surgery. At the same time, efforts are being made to improve contact with patients, who often struggle to ‘digest’ the bad news of a cancer diagnosis and to understand the doctor’s explanations in order to make therapy decisions on their own. There are trainers who, among other things, go to hospitals to train the doctors accordingly, Weltermann reports.

focus on research
Last but not least, research is needed for innovation to take place, stressed Armin Gerger, scientific director of the cancer report. In 2021, local scientists increased the total number of original articles in oncology journals to 724 (2020: 670).

The report did not collect data on the overall status of care in an international comparison. However, a few years ago, such comparisons always put you at the top, Sevelda stressed, which is partly due to the low availability of new drugs. Unlike antibiotics, there are currently no supply bottlenecks in the oncology sector.

Source: Krone

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