THE number of cancers spotted early in Scotland is rising – but dramatic improvement is required to hit the Scottish Government’s target.
Over the course of four years the proportion of breast, lung and bowel cancers diagnosed at stage one – when they are most likely to respond to treatment – increased by 6.5 per cent.
This means almost a quarter of patients with these diseases are being picked up early.
However, some of the improvement so far is due to better recording of the stages cancers have reached, rather than swifter diagnoses.
Furthermore, the Scottish Government has an official target to increase the proportion of the three cancers detected early by 25 per cent by the end of this year.
Jim Hume, Scottish Liberal Democrat health spokesman, said: “I believe that optimism can act as a drive towards big goals, but these latest figures on the detection of cancer shows that health boards are some way off the 25 per cent increase target. People will want the Scottish Government to support every action needed to bring health boards closer to the target. This must include the adequate resourcing of staff and capacity.”
The actual proportion of breast, lung and bowel cancers detected early rose from 23.2% in 2010/11 to 24.7% by the end of 2014.
The figures were released on the same day as data showing the number of people with cancer is projected to increase by 33.5 per cent by 2027, mainly due to the ageing population. A report, compiled by the statistics arm of NHS, projects that 204,064 people in Scotland will have cancer by 2023-27.
Eluned Hughes, acting director for Scotland with charity Breast Cancer Now, said: “Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in Scotland and today’s figures suggest it will remain so for years to come. This year, more than 4,600 Scottish women will be told that they have the disease, and 1,000 will lose their lives to it.
“We need to redouble our efforts if we want to stop women dying from breast cancer now. Worryingly, only just over four in ten women in Scotland regularly check their breasts; as breast cancer that is diagnosed early is far easier to treat, it’s so important that women know the signs, so they can quickly take action.”
The Scottish Government is spending £39m on their Detect Cancer Early campaign which has seen increase in people taking up breast and bowel screening.
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