Key Summary
- Cancer Research UK says one person gets diagnosed with cancer every 80 seconds.
- The waiting times for patients to avail cancer care has also increased.
- Diagnosis of cancer has reached 620 per 100,000 people.
The NHS is struggling with cancer care demand with an increasingly ageing population.
According to a Cancer Research UK report, one person gets diagnosed with cancer every 80 seconds in the UK. The report found that more than 403,000 people were diagnosed with the disease each year.
The NHS waiting times for cancer is at a record high. About 107,000 cancer patients waited more than 62 days to begin treatment across the UK in 2025, the report added.
Incidences have risen to 620 per 100,000 people, from 610 a decade ago. It is partly due to the rising obesity levels. The proportion of cases diagnosed early has only slightly increased, from 54 to 55 per cent.
On a positive note, the death rates have fallen, and the proportion of people surviving for a decade or more has risen.
However, Cancer Research UK said that due to pressure on cancer services, this progress could be affected.
It also mentioned that the government’s recent national cancer plan for England is an important step towards care. But they also mentioned that “funding and resources to translate ambition into impact” is required to combat the issue.
Cancer Research UK chief Michelle Mitchell said the cancer survival has doubled since the 1970s, but progress has slowed over the last decade.
She lauded the UK government’s recently published national cancer plan for England, but said a mere plan was not enough. “Publishing the plan is not a ‘job done’ on cancer: ambitions to diagnose cancers earlier, meet cancer wait targets and improve best practice treatment must happen quickly.”
The organisation mentioned that there needs to be more screening programmes for lung cancer and the government should roll out innovative cancer tests.
