THIS is a story about two cancer patients.  

One lives in Brisbane and, throughout his treatment, has been able to access three hospitals that are all within a 20-minute drive from his home.  

The other lives at Dalveen and travels an hour and a half to Toowoomba for treatment.   

A cancer patient in a rural or regional area is more likely to die within five years of diagnosis than a person in the city.  

And research shows that the further away, the higher the likelihood.  

Premature death rates from cancer are also higher in the Southern Downs than Brisbane.  

It is time this gap changed and that is why the Warwick Daily News is calling on political parties to address this in the lead-up to the July 2 election, as part of our Fair Go for Southern Downs campaign.  

Every year in Brisbane, of every 100,000 people about 92 die from cancer before they turn 75 years old.  

That is compared to the Southern Downs rate, where 107 die, according to figures from Social Health Atlas for 2009-2013.  

Nathaniel Hefford, 35, considers himself lucky because he has great access to treatment.  

He had a melanoma removed when he was 18 years old.

Then, when he was 30, he found a lump in his groin and cancer was also soon found in his lungs.  

Mr Hefford, who lives in Brisbane's south, has been through various treatments: trial drugs, chemotherapy, surgery and radiation.  

He has accessed three different hospitals in Brisbane during his treatment and, most of the time, he drove - or a family member was able to drive him - the short distance to his treatment.  

Mr Hefford said he'd always had great access to medical treatment.  

When cancer was found in his lung, he went into surgery within days.  

Susie Welsh's story is different.  

Diagnosed with breast cancer last September, Mrs Welsh said she got the news during a regular screening at St Andrew's Hospital in Toowoomba.   

"My mum had breast cancer so I have regular check-ups," she said.   

"The hospital is fantastic - when you go in they do the mammogram and ultrasound and, this time around, they found a lump and knew something was wrong.

  "I didn't even have to move off the table, a doctor came to do the biopsy right then, so I didn't have to come back, and I had the diagnosis straight away."   

Mrs Welsh said doctors found the cancer early and were confident they had got most of it when she had a mastectomy last year.   

She said it was hard to be away from her husband and two young daughters for the following months of treatment and she still travels to Toowoomba for frequent check-ups.   

"Following the surgery I still underwent 12 weeks of chemotherapy and radiation therapy over nine weeks," she said.   

"I think we're quite lucky around Warwick to have such good hospitals in Toowoomba and I was able to stay for free at the Cancer Council lodge for five weeks, coming home each weekend to see my family.   

"I met a few people from Kingaroy and Dalby, and others from Warwick who were driving in every day and I couldn't imagine having to travel daily or contemplate being further away from my family in Brisbane or something.    "

It is a challenge for people out in the country and the fact I even considered not having the radiation therapy because I had to travel and be away from my family is a big thing."   

Mr Hefford believes he would have had to move if he lived in a rural area and needed to go to hospital all the time.

  He is taking drugs to stop the cancer from growing and has been fine for about eight months.  

Cancer Council Queensland spokeswoman Katie Clift said cancer patients' survival largely depended on the quality and availability of treatment and services.  

She said research showed about 13% of regional cancer deaths were preventable and that 350 regional cancer deaths would be avoidable every year if survival rates in the bush were the same as those in the city.  

Ms Clift said possible reasons for these disparities came down to access to health care and screening services and such differences in cancer risk factors such as smoking, diet, alcohol consumption and exercise.  

Social Health Atlas figures showed the average annual rate of avoidable cancer deaths in the Southern Downs was 22 for every 100,000 people, which was similar to Brisbane's rate of 23 for every 100,000 people.  

Figures from the 2012-13 financial year also showed the Southern Downs had fewer patients who were hospitalised with cancer than Brisbane.  

For every 100,000 people, 2289 were hospitalised with cancer in the Southern Downs compared to 3598 in Brisbane.