[MarchHare]

I'm glad things worked out for your cousin, but it's a sample of one. No argument on this planet falls to pieces due to a sample size of one.

Survival rates in Canada are among the best in the world when compared to patients in other countries with the same type of cancer.

So no, this isn't an argument using a sample size of one. I was telling the story of my cousin to use an example that has affected my family on a personal level, but my experience is entirely consistent with statistics.

The International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership (ICBP)2, which looked at cancer survival across several international jurisdictions, is one important benchmarking effort accomplished through international collaboration, and requiring a high level of standardization of data, measures and analysis.
The six countries examined in the ICBP study include Canada, Australia, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
The 5-year relative survival for people in Canada diagnosed with a first primary invasive cancer was highest for lung and ovarian cancers, second highest for colorectal cancer, and third highest for female breast cancer.
Canada has the highest survival rates for lung and ovarian cancers, Australia for colorectal cancer, and Sweden for female breast cancer.
Out of the six countries used in the international comparison of survival rates, Canada ranks first for having the highest 5-year relative survival rates for lung and ovarian cancers, second for colorectal cancer, and third for female breast cancer.
Among the Canadian survival data, provincial data was available for Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and Ontario.
Among the four provinces, Ontario has the best survival rates for colorectal cancer, ranks second highest for both lung and ovarian cancers, and third highest for female breast cancer.

Source: http://www.csqi.on.ca/comparisons/su...and_mortality/

Where you live plays a role in cancer survival, according to a new study that shows the U.S., Japan, and France recorded the highest survival rates among 31 nations for four types of cancer. Algeria had the lowest survival rates for all four cancers.

[...]

In Canada and Australia, survival was also high for most cancers.

Source: http://www.webmd.com/cancer/news/200...ary-by-country