UK study shows improved cancer survival after early diagnosis

A new study from Cancer Research UK has drawn attention to the survival rates for cancer patients whose conditions are detected early.

The figures show that for eight common cancers, around 80 percent of patients survive for at least ten years when the disease is diagnosed at stage one or two. By contrast, survival falls to around 25 percent in patients who are diagnosed at stage three or four.

Meanwhile, ten-year survival was shown to be more than 90 percent for those diagnosed at stage one, compared with only five percent for those who are diagnosed at stage four.

The cancers included in this study – bladder, bowel, breast, cervical, womb, malignant melanoma, ovarian and testicular – account for more than 40 percent of all UK cancer cases. More than a quarter of these are diagnosed at stages three and four.

Sara Hiom, Cancer Research UK's director of early diagnosis, said: "We need increased funding in NHS services and more research to develop tests to spot cancer sooner, and help more people to beat the disease."

The organisation is championing a strategy that aims to increase the number of people diagnosed at an early stage across all cancer types from around half of patients now to more than 60 percent by 2020.