Poorest are at greatest risk of slipping through the cancer net

SCOTS from poorer backgrounds are more likely to be diagnosed with cancer when it is at an advanced stage.

Fears have been expressed about the nation’s screening programme after a report found those in deprived areas are more likely to be diagnosed when the disease has spread and is less likely to be curable.

One reason for the disparity is that fewer people from poorer areas attend screening.

Around 20 per cent of cases of cervical cancer were diagnosed at a late stage in the poorest areas, compared with around 12 per cent in the wealthiest.

For breast cancer, the figures were 10 per cent and around 6 per cent respectively.

The report said a third of prostate cancer cases from deprived areas were found at a late stage compared with only a quarter in more affluent parts of the country. For bowel cancer, it was around 25 per cent, compared with 22 per cent.

The Cancer Incidence in Scotland 2014-18 report said: ‘Among the commonest cancers in Scotland, there was convincing evidence that socio-economic deprivation increased the likelihood of being diagnosed with more advanced cancers of the bowel, cervix, breast, head and neck and prostate.’

Macmillan Cancer Support’s head of services in Scotland, Janice Preston, said: ‘We’re concerned the impact of Covid-19 will make this already worrying situation much worse. There has been huge disruption in cancer testing.’

Cancer screening programmes are now resuming after being paused in March to ease pressure on the NHS.

A Scottish Government spokesman said it was providing additional capacity to support diagnostic testing, which would ensure patients have appropriate access to services.