Prime Highlights:
Nearly 60% of cancers in England are now found at stages one or two, the highest ever recorded.
The campaign during the last two years has inspired many individuals, especially at a higher risk, to get life-saving checks, which consequently contributed to increased early diagnoses.
A total of 58.7% of common cancers diagnosed between September 2023 and August 2024 were early stage, more than 2.7 percentage points ahead of the figures recorded before the pandemic.
Key Background:
This is the highest ever recorded in England as the number of early diagnoses for cancer at any stage has increased according to the latest data from the National Health Service, NHS. Analyzing 13 cancers with the highest incidence rates in England, including breast, prostate, lung, and others, nearly 60% of patients are found to be at stages one and two- where the treatment options are most effective.
The NHS gives credit to this success due to a two-year drive that encourages every man with an invitation, especially those at higher risk due to either hereditary or lifestyle factors, to come for potentially life-saving checks. Statistics now show that 58.7% of cancers diagnosed between September 2023 and August 2024 are already at an early stage, an improvement of 2.7 percentage points compared with the levels before the pandemic, which meant nearly 7,000 more patients were diagnosed at an earlier stage.
National cancer director at NHS England, Cally Palmer, said the early detection saves lives. While she expressed her optimism over the progress, further work was required to detect cancers earlier, at stages where interventions were likely to be more effective. Palmer cited the commitment of the NHS to bring tests and checks closer to communities while continuous work to better the early cancer detection rate continues.
Some of the key initiatives the NHS has undertaken in this regard involve programs such as TLHC and targeted liver health. These programs take mobile scanning units to public arenas like shopping malls, sports stadiums, and food banks to perform deeper checks on people. Thus, since 2019 when TLHC launched, more than 5,000 individuals diagnosed with lung cancer have been discovered at an early treatable stage.
An example of such patients is Paul Nelson from Birkenhead, who shared his story of being told he had lung cancer after attending an asymptomatic TLHC check-up. He appealed to other people to seize the opportunity available in free check-up services that can detect such signs and symptoms early. Moreover, the NHS checks for cancer were increased significantly over the past year, and between November 2023 to October 2024, over 3 million tests for cancer, took place which is more than 100,000 compared to last year and over 700,000 in comparison with five years ago.
