Slow-down reported in cancer survival rates improvement

A report by Cancer Research UK says the rate of improvement in the number of people who survive cancer has slowed down, and the rate of progress was five times faster in the 2000s than in the 2010s.

The report largely blames a lack of sufficient funding for research.  However it also finds that the likelihood of surviving a decade or more with cancer in the UK is the highest it has ever been, increasing from 47.9% in 2010-11 to 49.8% in 2018, which compares to around 24% in the early 1970s.

Screening programmes for cervical, bowel and breast cancer are credited with saving over 5,000 lives a year, and research has also led to improvements in prevention, diagnosis and treatment.

However, the report estimates that unless government spending levels for research are maintained over the next ten years, there will be a funding gap of more than £1bn, which could “put further medical advances at risk”.

Cancer Research UK’s head of cancer intelligence Jon Shelton, said “This report shows us where the UK is doing well, and where we need to focus on improvements for patients.  There are positives in here – screening is having a real impact, and cancer mortality rates are falling.

“There are many areas to improve though.  Cancer survival is not improving quickly enough.  People are waiting far too long for diagnosis and to start treatment, with cancer waiting time targets consistently being missed.  And we need to prevent more cancers.”

The report goes on to say that smoking remains the biggest cause of cancer in the UK, with 150 cases every day.  Meanwhile, obesity and being overweight causes around 22,800 cases of cancer every year in the UK and is a risk factor for 13 different types of the disease.

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Posted by Karen Motley, Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (jacquelinevance@chadlaw.co.uk), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

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