CANCER patients in Essex could be victims of a postcode lottery, new research suggests.

A “cancer map” put together by Macmillan Cancer Support highlights survival rates for people with cancer, and focuses on the number who live as long as ten years after initial diagnosis.

Nationwide, more people than ever are now surviving cancer than ever before, with a 3.2 per cent increase year on year.

Early detection and effective treatments have led to greater success in treating the disease across the country, but the national picture has not yet reached Essex.

New research suggests Essex’s relative affluence, it has one of the poorest survival rates for the disease.

A mathematical formula was used to look at each region, taking into account the different population levels and other factors.

For every 100,000 people living in East Anglia, it showed an average of 1,574 people are now surviving with cancer.

Essex people fare less well with just 1,474 cancer sufferers surviving ten years after being diagnosed, the second poorest survival rate in the region.

The National Intelligence Network estimates two million Britons currently have cancer.

Archana Sharma, spokesman for the Essex Cancer Network, said: “Although the map takes account of age – and our population is older than the UK average – it does not take in to account areas of deprivation and we do have a few in Essex.

“Patients in areas of deprivation tend to present later and this adversely affects their prognosis.”