Finland is a leading country in cancer care and diagnostics

At Docrates Cancer Center the freedom of choice has been noted: So far, we have treated patients from over 60 countries. Foreign patients make up one fifth of our patients.

As one of the largest healthcare service exporters in Finland, we can proudly say that we are the engine of Finnish health tourism!

Finnish cancer treatment is among the best in Europe and in the world

On a European and global scale, Finland is profiled as a country with first-class cancer care. This is illustrated by the latest CONCORD-3 study, which sheds light on 5-year survival rates for various cancers worldwide (CONCORD-3: Global surveillance of trends in cancer survival 2000–14. Lancet 2018; 391: 1023–75).

According to the study, the 5-year survival rate for most cancers in Finland is among the highest in the world. In terms of 5-year survival rate, we are the third best country in Europe in treating prostate, breast and adult’s brain cancer. For example, 93.2% of patients with prostate cancer live five years after the diagnosis.

The CONCORD-3 includes data from 37.5 million patients diagnosed with cancer between the years 2000 and 2014. The study covers 71 countries and regions.

Figure 1. Five years after prostate cancer diagnosis, 93.2% of the patients in Finland are alive.

Figure 2. Five years after breast cancer diagnosis, 88.5% of the patients in Finland are alive.

Figure 3. Five years after (adult’s) brain cancer diagnosis, 37.6% of the patients in Finland are alive.

Figure 4. Five years after colon cancer diagnosis, 64.9% of the patients in Finland are alive.

Finnish cancer research is the most cited in the world

Cancer research has traditionally been of very high quality in Finland. If we look at the average number of citations per clinical cancer publication, we can say that Finland is the number one country in cancer research. Each Finnish cancer article receives an average of 26.4 citations: