Early cancer initiatives have resulted in nearly three out of five patients being diagnosed at stages one or two when the cancer is easier to treat.
The proportion of patients being diagnosed with cancer at an early stage in England has risen to its highest-ever level, according to a new analysis from the NHS.
Latest data on 13 of the most common cancers – including breast, prostate and lung cancer – shows that nearly three out of five patients are being diagnosed at stages one or two when the cancer is easier to treat.
“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,” says Cally Palmer, national cancer director for NHS England.
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.
What has helped are a number of NHS initiatives to help catch more cancers earlier. These include the NHS Targeted Lung Health Check Programme (TLHC). The NHS says that more than 5,000 people have been diagnosed with lung cancer earlier via the TLHC programme since it was launched in 2019.
“Our work to raise awareness, help to warn those at risk and encourage people to come forward for checks is vital to make sure people can get treatment promptly,” says Peter Johnson, NHS England’s national clinical director for cancer.
