Late cancer diagnosis kills 10,000 a year according to government tsar | Society | The Guardian

Late cancer diagnosis kills 10,000 a year according to government tsar | Society | The Guardian: "Up to 10,000 people die needlessly of cancer every year because their condition is diagnosed too late, according to research by the government's director of cancer services. The figure is twice the previous estimate for preventable deaths.

Earlier detection of symptoms could save between 5,000 and 10,000 lives in England a year, Prof Mike Richards will reveal this week. The higher figure is nearly twice his previous calculation, which put the figure at about 5,000.

Richards has revised up his estimate after studying the three deadliest forms of the disease ‑ lung, bowel and breast cancer ‑ which together kill almost 63,000 people a year.

'These delays in patients presenting with symptoms and cancer being diagnosed at a late stage inevitably cost lives. The situation is unacceptable,' Richards told the Guardian.

New efforts are planned to educate the public about the signs of cancer, tackle the widespread reluctance to tell their GP if they develop symptoms, and improve family doctors' ability to spot signs of the disease earlier, he added."