Experts appear to be divided over whether or not England's cancer plan is making a difference.
The national cancer plan was introduced in 2000 in an attempt to propel England from the bottom of the rankings for European cancer survival.
A new article in the Lancet Oncology suggests that one-year survival improved for the majority of cancers in both England and Wales between 1996 and 2006, even though Wales did not introduce its own cancer plan until 2006.
One-year survival improved slightly faster in Wales between 1996 and 2003, which is believed to be a result of clinicians acting on the recommendations of the 1996 Cameron report.
However, three-year survival figures show that England has achieved a slightly faster increase in survival since 2003.
Professor Mike Richards, national cancer director for England, claimed that for the majority of cancers, 'survival has improved over the past decade in both countries'.
A Leading Edge commentary published alongside the article argued that England is 'at best keeping track with improvements elsewhere rather than closing the gap' and claimed that the target to bring the country's five-year survival rates for cancer in line with the best in Europe by 2010 'looks optimistic'.
However, Cancer Research UK is rather more positive about the findings, claiming that they provide 'the first indication that the cancer plan could be moving cancer survival in the right direction'.
The charity's director of health information, Sara Hiom, added: 'This is exciting news, but we need to take a more in-depth look to see which parts of the plan have had the most positive impact and which parts require more action.'