Cancer survival rates improve – but MP says more work needed

ONE-year cancer survival rates in Warrington have improved – but still lag slightly behind the national average.
The figure for Warrington is 69.8 per cent – up from 68.9 per cent a year ago.
But the national figure is 70.2 per cent – and this is still well behind comparable international rates.  In Sweden, for instance, one-year cancer survival is around 82 per cent.
Warrington North MP Helen Jones has welcomed the improved figures, saying early diagnosis is key to the improvement.
But she notes that by 2020,  almost half of the UK population will receive a cancer diagnosis during their lifetime and that cancer survival rates in the UK are among the worst in Europe – not least because because people are diagnosed too late when their cancer is advanced.
Ms Jones and the All Party Parliamentary Group on Cancer believe this must change.
She said: “The earlier cancer is diagnosed,  the better the chance of surviving at least one year and surviving cancer generally.  The publication of these local one-year survival rates should therefore encourage the local NHS to promote earlier diagnosis.
“I will be contacting Warrington CCG to discuss how we can ensure
more local people survive cancer.
“More work is needed through earlier diagnosis to increase this number,  as the UK has among the lowest survival rates in Europe.  Better screening uptake,  diagnostics within primary care, public awareness and GP training are all possible areas our local CCG could explore improving.”