PROFESSOR PAT PRICE

Leading oncologist and founder of Catch Up With Cancer

BE in no doubt, the country is in a cancer crisis.

In my field of radiotherapy, too many patients are facing “cancer treatment deserts”.

We’re not talking here about radiology – that’s to do with finding and diagnosing cancer with scans. We’re talking about radiotherapy – a treatment that treats and cures cancer with beams that kill cancer cells.

Radiotherapy is one of the most important treatments.

We know that radiotherapy is needed by around half of cancer patients.

Shockingly, only around one in four patients get this vital treatment in the UK.

Where you live should not determine if you live.

Too many patients who need radiotherapy face long, arduous journeys to get to their nearest radiotherapy centre. Or worse, the nearest one is so far away that it’s just not a viable option.

The radiotherapy community has been crying out about this crisis for a long time.

Access

But we’re fighting against what feels like a collective burying of heads in the sand.

We are told that the NHS is diagnosing more cancer patients than ever. But what’s the point of diagnosing if we don’t treat them?

To truly tackle this cancer crisis we need to diagnose and treat patients quickly. We need a radical new approach in all areas of cancer care and increasing access to radiotherapy is an obvious place to start. Newer machines can treat patients faster, reducing the need for multiple hospital trips.

It’s often said that we are in a “war against cancer”. But if we want to win that war, why are the powers that be consistently failing to make the best use of one of the most effective weapons in our arsenal – radiotherapy?

I thank Daily Express readers for their support of our call for more investment in this vital sector and I urge those in power to work with us to deliver the radiotherapy service our country deserves.