Covid has led to ‘poorer outcomes’ for those with rapidly-advancing cancers

The Less Survivable Cancers Taskforce has launched its first awareness day. Laura Hampson reports

(iStock)

The Covid-19 pandemic has led to “poorer outcomes” for people with the least survivable cancers, such as stomach, pancreatic and brain cancer, campaigners have said.

To raise awareness of this, the Less Survivable Cancers Taskforce (LSCT) has launched its first awareness day (11 January) to ask for greater focus on early diagnosis and more research.

The LSCT is also calling for a government commitment to increase survival rates for less survivable cancers to 28 per cent by 2029.

In the UK, a quarter of cancers have an average five-year survival rate of 16 per cent and are often diagnosed late in emergency departments.

Date from LSCT shows that three per cent of breast and eight per cent of prostate cancers are diagnosed in an emergency, but this figure jumps to 53 per cent for pancreatic or central nervous system cancers including brain, 45 per cent for liver, 35 per cent for lung, 30 per cent for stomach and 21 per cent for oesophageal cancers.

Screening programmes for these cancers do not exist and many people are unaware of the symptoms, the taskforce warns.

“We know that delays in diagnosis lead to much poorer outcomes for patients with these rapidly-advancing cancers,” LSCT chairwoman Anna Jewell said.

"We also know the trauma associated with receiving a diagnosis in an emergency setting for both patients and families. These cancers are currently difficult or impossible to treat at later stages and the time from diagnosis to death is often brutally short compared to more survivable cancers.”

Jewell adds that the situation is “critical” and that it has been “exacerbated” by the pandemic.

She continued: “The taskforce is calling for a significant increase in research funding as well as a commitment to increasing resources for early diagnosis for less survivable cancers so we can close the deadly cancer gap.”

Dr David Jenkinson, chief scientific officer at the Brain Tumour Charity said there has been little progress in terms of early diagnosis for survivable cancers.

“Through sustained investment in research and NHS care, we have seen great progress in early diagnosis and survival for many other health conditions in the last two decades, but this progress has unfortunately not yet been forthcoming for less survivable cancers and we need to act now,” Jenkinson said.

A spokesperson for the NHS said the health service is “committed to ensuring that more cancers are detected at an earlier stage when they are easier to treat”.

They added: “There are already a range of innovations in place to help with this ambition, including a revolutionary new blood test to detect more than 50 types of cancer before symptoms even appear.

“NHS Help Us Help You campaigns have increased awareness of lesser-known symptoms and, since the summer, GPs have been referring more people for cancer checks than ever before - so if you’re experiencing any worrying symptoms, please come forward and get checked.”

Additional reporting by PA.