The study found 2500 cancer patients in New Zealand would have survived if they had been living and treated in Australia. Photo: Getty Images

Australians are more likely to survive cancer than New Zealanders, new research shows.

While New Zealand's cancer treatment programme ranks among the eight best countries in the world, it lags behind nations such as Australia and Canada, the Concord-3 study published in the Lancet medical journal found.

The study looked at 37.5 million patients diagnosed worldwide with the 18 most common cancers between 2000 and 2014.

It found 2500 cancer patients in New Zealand would have survived if they had been living and treated in Australia.

Cancer Society medical director Chris Jackson says New Zealand needs to reduce smoking, target obesity, improve access to screening and specialists and introduce better sun-smart measures to schools and workplaces.

The study looked at people affected by cancers in the liver, pancreas, lung, oesophagus, stomach, colon, rectum, breast (women), cervix, ovary, prostate, and skin as well as brain tumours, leukaemias and lymphomas.

It found Australians were more likely to survive some of the most common cancers, such as lung, breast, prostrate, melanoma and colorectal, compared to Kiwis.

Dr Jackson said solutions to improving local survival rates were "pretty straightforward''.

"But what we need are ... some good signals from the Government, strong central leadership from the Government to have a very strong cancer plan,'' Dr Jackson said.