NHS England medical director Professor Sir Stephen Powis, who will be superannuating soon, has assured cancer patients that their condition will soon be manageable as newer and more effective treatments are in the offing.
The 64-year-old kidney specialist told The Times that medical breakthroughs are “accelerating at such a pace” that more cures for cancers will soon be found.
People are already living longer with cancer, and some are even getting cured. This trend will continue.
“For many cancers now, people should be confident that it’s not a death sentence and that more treatments will become available," he told the daily.
He pointed out that one in two cancer patients now survive for at least ten years, compared with just one in four in the early 1970s.
For breast cancer, three in four women now survive for ten years after diagnosis.
Powis said the NHS will soon roll out drugs that train the immune system to kill cancer cells, and use genetic tests to tailor treatment to individuals.
He said the understanding of the genetics of cancer and how it can be targeted is being "revolutionised".
Powis finds the field of personalised cancer vaccines, a type of immunotherapy which trains the body to kill cancer cells, very exciting.
These vaccines use the same mRNA technology, which was used in the COVID-19 vaccine, and have shown promise in boosting survival for patients suffering from skin, bowel, lung, brain, and pancreatic cancer.
Powis claimed his work in the NHS has convinced him that it is the best healthcare model for the UK, and he wanted the Labour government’s 10-year health plan to succeed.
He felt the greatest challenge for the NHS was the rise in the aged population as people tend to live longer, and they often have medical conditions.
Powis is being replaced by Professor Meghana Pandit, an obstetrician, and Dr Claire Fuller, a GP.
