Cancer costs European countries €124 billion (£99bn) every year, according to the first estimate of the full economic burden of the disease.
Lung cancer incurred the biggest total cost at £15bn. This was mostly the result of losses caused by patients dying prematurely.
For healthcare alone, the most expensive disease was breast cancer. At £5bn, it was responsible for 13% of cancer healthcare costs. Scientists pooled together data from the World Health Organisation, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), national surveys, and governments.
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