A LEADING cancer charity has called for urgent action to tackle the “completely unacceptable” cancer survival gap between poor and affluent communities in Scotland.

Macmillan Cancer Support carried out what it describes as the “most comprehensive ever” analysis of the growing “cancer survival gap” for the six most common cancers and found wide variations in survival depending on where people lived.

Of those investigated, prostate cancer patients faced the biggest survival gap, with a staggering 98 per cent increased risk of death for those living in deprived areas.