Cancer specialist Dr.Karol Sikora says the quality of care is uneven, because local authorities decide which medications or treatments are available.

VOA: standard.2009.09.24

Sikora says British authorities lag behind other European nations in making cancer drugs available.

VOA: standard.2009.09.24

"We generally recommend that people shop within their plan, that they don't go outside of the plan, " Sikora says.

NPR: Seniors Struggle over Medicare Drug Gap Coverage

But there's a good reason not to make that move, according to Pete Sikora, one of the Consumers Union study authors.

NPR: Seniors Struggle over Medicare Drug Gap Coverage

Eventually, predicts Professor Sikora, people could even be implanted with a "gene chip" which could detect the earliest signs of the genetic mutations that cause cancer.

BBC: The future of cancer treatment