The figure includes direct expenditure as well as indirect costs including premature death and sick leave. Colorectal cancer, described as the second leading cause of cancer death in Europe, claims one European life every three minutes. It claims more than 16,000 deaths in the UK every year. The new research, published in high impact journal Lancet Gastroenterology and Hepatology, also highlights the significant inequalities that European colorectal cancer patients experience, depending on where they live and how a higher spend on cancer drugs than on hospital care, did not always lead to better patient outcomes. The research found the economic cost of colorectal cancer in Europe to be 19.1 billion euro (£16.3 billion) and 2.01 billion euro (£1.7 billion) in the UK.