Published on 2 January 2025
A patient diagnosed through the Cheshire and Merseyside Targeted Lung Health Check (TLHC) programme has featured in a national NHS announcement about the proportion of patients being diagnosed with cancer at an early stage in England rising to its highest ever level.
The NHS has announced that latest data on 13 of the most common cancers, such as breast, prostate and lung cancer, shows that nearly three in five patients are now being diagnosed at stages one or two, when the cancer is easier to treat.
The increased number of cancers being caught earlier follows a major drive by the NHS over the last two years to encourage millions of people to come forward for potentially life-saving checks, especially those who may be at higher risk as a result of hereditary or lifestyle factors.
And the announcement highlights the story of Paul Nelson, from Birkenhead, who was diagnosed in summer through the Wirral arm of the TLHC programme, which is facilitated by Cheshire and Merseyside Cancer Alliance in partnership with Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital.
As he was fit and healthy, he was shocked when problems were found in his scan and he was later diagnosed with lung cancer.
Paul said: “”That first scan gave me a chance of life. I had no symptoms whatsoever and was fit and healthy, so I was devastated when they told me it was cancer.
“I’ve never had any problems with my chest but I was given the check and then offered the scan, so I thought, why not. I am so glad I went. This has now been caught early enough for treatment – if things had been left for a few more months it could have been very different.”
The latest NHS rapid cancer registration data shows that 120,958 of the 206,038 common cancers (58.7%) diagnosed between September 2023 and August 2024 were identified at an early stage – an improvement of 2.7 percentage points on pre-pandemic levels, corresponding to an estimated additional 7,000 patients diagnosed at an early stage.
New analysis also shows more people than ever before have been tested for cancer over the last year. Over three million people (3,071,055) were seen for urgent cancer checks over the last year (November 2023 to October 2024), which is up by over 100,000 on the same period the year before, and up by over 700,000 on the same period five years ago – before the Covid pandemic.
Dame Cally Palmer, National Cancer Director for NHS England, said: “Lives are saved when cancers are caught early – and following a major drive on early detection in recent years, it’s really encouraging to see more people than ever are now being diagnosed at an earlier stage.
“There is still much more to do to save more lives and we will not let up in our efforts to catch more cancers earlier, where treatment is more likely to be successful. NHS teams across the country are continuing to take tests and checks closer to people who need them, and with new treatments being made available all the time, we will continue to do all we can to get people seen and treated for cancer as early as possible.”
Read the story featuring Paul here: Cancers getting diagnosed at earlier stages - BBC News