Late diagnosis of cancer a postcode lottery

CANCER Research UK has warned of an “unacceptable variation” in cancer diagnosis times across England - with Greater Manchester second worst for late diagnosis.

The charity reviewed cancer cases in 2012-2013 and suggested almost 20,000 more patients – 1,657 in Greater Manchester – would have a better chance of survival if all regions performed as well as the top area, Bath, which diagnosed cancers at a late stage in 40.26 per cent of cases. In Greater Manchester 48.08 per cent of cancers were diagnosed at a late stage - only slightly better than Merseyside, which was worst of all.

Dr Jodie Moffat, head of early diagnosis at Cancer Research UK, said: “We don’t know for sure why there’s such variation across England and it’s likely that a lot of factors are coming into play.

The statistics are released ahead of Cancer Research UK new early diagnosis campaign, which starts next week and will encourage people to know what’s normal for their bodies so they can spot unusual changes and see their GP.

Survival for some of the most common types of cancer is known to be more than three times higher when the disease is diagnosed in the earlier stages.