Everyone can play a part to save lives

EVERY day, up to 1,000 people across the country are newly diagnosed with cancer.

For patients and their families, a diagnosis is devastating.

But we know that someone whose cancer is diagnosed at the earliest stage typically has between five and 10 times the chance of surviving compared with those found at the latest stage.

This is why today marks a really promising moment for the detection of cancer both here and around the world.

The first patients will start to receive the revolutionary Galleri blood test which can, incredibly, detect cancer in the bloodstream before symptoms even appear.

There is good evidence that the test works, and the NHS is now getting to work putting it into place in a real-life setting for the first time.

From today, NHS staff will start taking this potentially life-saving blood sample from people in Runcorn and London, with six more sites to follow over the next few weeks.

NHS staff have gone to great lengths to ensure cancer treatment for patients could continue for patients during the pandemic.

And it is thanks to their huge efforts that cancer services are now back at usual levels.

The most recent figures show that in just one month, more than 200,000 people were checked for cancer, and more than 27,000 started treatment.We know that lives are saved when cancers are caught early, which is why the NHS has put so much effort into early diagnosis in recent years.

And now, with this test, not only can we spot the classic warning signs of cancer, but the invisible signs of killer disease can be revealed to clinicians.

This means treatment can start more quickly, and we can get one step ahead of cancer.

The NHS Long Term Plan commits to catching three-quarters of cancers at stages one and two, up from half at present, and this worldfirst trial could help us with those ambitions.

But you can help us too.

If you or your family are worried about a symptom, please contact your GP.

We want you to help us save lives.

And, if you are invited to take part in this trial, please come forward.

You could be helping us to revolutionise how we catch and treat cancer in the years to come.