Trends in mortality from four groups of cancers amenable to anti-cancer treatments (testicular cancer, Hodgkin's disease, leukemias and childhood cancers) between the late 1950s and the late 1980s were analyzed for the 23 larger European countries. In Western Europe, newer treatments led to the avoidance of approximately 1000 deaths from testicular cancer, 4000 from Hodgkin's disease, 4000 from leukemias, and 2500 from childhood cancers. In Eastern Europe, declines in mortality were observed only for childhood cancers, for a total of about 500 fewer deaths per year. Thus, approximately 11,000 deaths per year were avoided in Europe by newer cancer treatments, corresponding to 1% cancer deaths registered in the 23 larger European countries. A few thousand further deaths from these cancers could be avoided through more widespread and rational utilization of currently available therapies, particularly in Eastern Europe.