EU cancer research spending lags U.S.

LONDON, March 30 (UPI) -- A European survey has found the European Union and its member states put vastly less money into cancer research than does the United States.

The European Cancer Research Funding Survey revealed the current 25 EU nations spend, on average, seven times less per person than the United States spends.

"The EU is massively behind the USA in its support of non-commercial cancer research," Richard Sullivan, a spokesman for the survey group, said Wednesday.

"This gap is a substantial threat to the ability of the EU to translate cancer research into patient benefit. Also threatened is the ability to recruit and retain clinicians and scientists to work in cancer research, as well as the commercial attractiveness of the EU."

The survey also discovered the United States spends four times more as a percentage of GDP on cancer research than the 15 countries that were members of the EU before May 2004.