Daily Mail

Three in four cancer patients to get early diagnosis within a decade

- By Sophie Borland Health Editor

THREE quarters of cancer patients will be diagnosed early within the next decade, the Prime Minister pledged yesterday.

She unveiled a major initiative that will see mobile scanning units rolled out across supermarke­t car parks.

The Government wants patients to be able to turn up and get themselves checked without being referred by a GP beforehand.

Only 54 per cent of patients receive a diagnosis before tumours spread.

But Theresa May, who cited the death of her goddaughte­r from cancer, promised to increase this to 75 per cent by 2028, by improving screening and making tests far more accessible. Patients whose cancer is detected when it is localised are much more likely to survive than those whose tumours have spread to the bones and other organs.

The Government is to expand a hugely successful pilot in Manchester that enabled patients to get lung cancer checks in supermarke­t car parks.

Mobile scanning units at Tesco and Asda led to a four-fold increase in tumours diagnosed early, from 20 per cent to 80 per cent. Department of Health officials want to roll out similar scanning units for all types of cancer to enable patients to get checked if they have concerns.

They are also planning to lower the age of bowel cancer screening from 60 to 50 and introduce a much easier-to-use test, which is also better at detecting tumours.

Britain’s cancer survival rates are lower than other Western countries and experts have blamed this on late diagnosis. A Lancet study in January ranked the UK in the bottom half of 71 countries in terms of survival rates for nearly all types of the disease.

During her speech at the Conservati­ve Party conference yesterday, Mrs May promised a step change in treatment.

She said: ‘The key to boosting your chance of surviving cancer is early diagnosis. Five-year survival rates for bowel cancer are over 90 per cent if caught early, but less than 10 per cent if diagnosed late. Miss Brasier worked with Drake Music Scotland, a charity which aims to transform lives through music. Its patrons include percussion­ist Dame Evelyn Glennie, who is profoundly deaf.

In a touching tribute to Miss Brasier, posted on an online blog, a friend wrote: ‘She left a legacy in so many people’s lives and hearts. What stays with me, above all, is the experience of life and death as two facets of a whole: her determinat­ion to live life to the full, while accepting death as part of life. And how her experience of death was transforme­d by her deep and active faith in God.

‘Teresa was inseparabl­e from her beloved black lab Poacher, except for the times I’d seen her in hospital when, instead of a snoring dog and a bookshelf of single malt whiskies, she would be surrounded Through our cancer strategy, we will increase the early detection rate from one in two today, to three in four by 2028.

‘This will be a step-change in how we diagnose cancer. It will mean that by 2028, 55,000 more people will be alive five years after their diagnosis compared to today. Every life saved means a parent, a partner, a child, a godmother spared the pain of losing a loved one.’

Charities said the ambition could be achieved only with a significan­t injection of staff and cash.

Figures show the NHS has for nearly three years failed to hit a key target of treating cancer patients within two months of being referred by a GP.

Moira Fraser, director of policy at Macmillan Cancer Support, said: ‘To fulfil pledges like these tomorrow, we must address fundamenta­l challenges in cancer care today, and without a costed plan to grow and sustain numbers of doctors and nurses to deliver these aims, it simply will not be possible.’ Emma Greenwood, Cancer Research UK’s director of policy and public affairs, said: ‘The scale of the challenge is substantia­l and must now be reflected in Government action.

‘Significan­t investment in NHS staff who diagnose and treat cancer patients will be fundamenta­l, as will continued research.’

‘The pain of losing a loved one’

 ??  ?? Musician: Teresa Brasier died last December, aged 4
Musician: Teresa Brasier died last December, aged 4

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Kingdom