Cancer costs EU €126 billion annually - Luxembourg tops ranking

(AFP) Cancer cost the then 27 countries of the European Union 126 billion euros in 2009, according to a study published on Monday.

The bill mainly comprised 51 billion euros in costs for health-care systems, including drugs; 23 billion euros in unpaid care provided by friends and relatives of people with cancer; and 52 billion euros in loss productivity due to premature deaths and illness.

Britain, France, Germany and Italy accounted for more than two-thirds of the cost.

Per capita, EU countries spent an average of 102 euros on cancer patients. Luxembourg topped the ranking, spending 184 euros, followed by Germany (182 euros). Bulgaria was at the bottom of the list (16 euros).

However, researchers commented in an abstract that the reason for the wide differences for the countries need to be further investigated.

Four types of cancer - breast, colorectal, lung and prostate - contributed to around half of all new cancer diagnoses and deaths.

Lung cancer had the highest overall cost, of 18.8 billion euros, and was also responsible for the biggest loss of productivity.

The analysis should be useful for policymakers weighing decisions on where to allocate research funds, drugs and human resources, said researcher Ramon Luengo-Fernandez of the University of Oxford.

The study appears in The Lancet Oncology.