£30m plan to prevent 300 Scots dying from cancer

The most recent figures, from 2008, show 4232 people were diagnosed with breast cancer that year, 3841 with bowel cancer and 4810 with lung cancer.

However, figures for 2005 to 2009 show only 15% of patients with these three types of cancer were diagnosed in the early stage, including just 6.2% of lung cancer sufferers.

Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said Scotland "continues to lag behind other parts of Europe for cancer survival rates" and an ageing population meant cases were set to increase. She added: "More action is therefore needed and this plan sets out how we intend to achieve that."

A new TV and radio advertising campaign started yesterday, aiming to raise awareness of the early symptoms and also boost knowledge of screening programmes to encourage people to seek help sooner.

Work will be done with GPs so people suspected of having the disease will be sent for referral and testing earlier.

The £30m will help to increase diagnostic and screening capacity in the health service, support rapid diagnosis and treatment, increase the rate of early referral and fund extra treatments.

It is hoped the plan will save at least 300 lives a year by March 2016.

It has already been backed by three cancer survivors who met Ms Sturgeon at a health centre in Glasgow yesterday.

Tricia Clark, who had breast cancer, Eric Byrne, successfully treated for lung cancer, and Glenys Marra, who is in remission after having bowel cancer, all welcomed the initiative.

Ms Clark, 47, a single mother from Clydebank, said she knew in her heart she had cancer when she discovered a lump the size of an egg when trying on a new bra at home six years ago.

She said: "I made an appointment with my doctor the next day and she referred me to the Western [Infirmary] where I was taken a few days later. There was no delay as they told me almost immediately after all the tests that they thought it was cancer. I had surgery and treatment in the December, just a couple of months later."

She said throughout her ordeal her three-year-old son was all she had to live for, adding: "I'm sure he was the reason I remained so strong throughout all my treatment. I had to be around to see him grow up."

She urged people not to "waste any time" if they suspect they have cancer.

Mr Byrne, 62, from Airdrie in North Lanarkshire, went to see his doctor because his family became concerned about his persistent cough. He recalled how his daughter persuaded him to go to the GP who sent him for an x-ray which revealed a cancerous tumour. He underwent four rounds of chemotherapy and had surgery to remove his upper right lung in 2009. Mr Byrne said: "Catching cancer early has given me the best chance of beating the disease."

Dr Linda de Caestecker, director of public health at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, also stressed the importance of catching the disease as soon as possible.

She said: "Detecting cancer early is vital for successful outcomes and that is why screening is so important. Screening has the potential to save lives and improve the quality of life through early diagnosis of serious conditions."

Vicky Crichton, Cancer Research UK's public affairs manager in Scotland, added: "When cancer is diagnosed at an early stage, treatment is often simpler and more likely to be effective – so finding cancer early can make a real difference. We hope this campaign will go a long way to raising awareness of the importance of going to see your doctor.

"We know that early detection really does save lives but that people often put off seeing their doctor because they're worried about what might be found. A cancer diagnosis is no longer a death sentence and survival rates have doubled in 40 years.

"Going to screening when invited is important too, as we know these programmes can help find cancer or detect any abnormal changes early, often before any symptoms develop."