Cancer costing EU countries billions

Cancer costs countries in the European Union 126bn euro (?107bn) a year, according to the first EU-wide analysis of the economic impact of the disease. The charity Cancer Research UK said it was a "huge burden". The figures, published in the Lancet Oncology, included the cost of drugs and health care as well as earnings lost through sickness or families providing care. Lung cancer was the most costly form of the disease. The team from the University of Oxford and King's College London analysed data from each of the 27 nations in the EU in 2009. The showed the total cost was 126bn euro and of that 51bn (?43bn) euro was down to healthcare costs including doctors' time and drug costs. Lost productivity, because of work missed through sickness or dying young, cost 52bn (?44bn) euro while the cost to families of providing care was put at 23bn (?19.5bn) euro. Overall, richer countries, such as Germany and Luxembourg, spent more on cancer treatment per person than eastern European countries such as Bulgaria and Lithuania. Lung cancer accounted for more than a tenth of all cancer costs in Europe. The deadly cancer tends to affect people at an earlier age than other cancers so the lost productivity through early deaths is a major factor.