There is no evidence that Britain’s cancer care will catch up with that of other countries, MPs have warned, with fears an extra 340,000 people will suffer late diagnoses.

Before the pandemic, ministers pledged to speed up the diagnosis of cancer, saying that by 2028, three in four cases should be detected at early stages.

But MPs on Monday warned that the situation had been “static” for several years and was likely to remain so, with fears that any gains made in survival could now “go into reverse”.

The damning report warns that England is still lagging behind other major developed nations, with a “stubbornly high” gap when it comes to survival.

Just 58.9 per cent of people in England diagnosed with bowel cancer will live for five years or more, compared with 66.8 per cent in Canada and 70.8 per cent in Australia, the report notes. 

Witnesses told MPs that if the 75 per cent target was hit, cancer survival in England would catch up with that of similar nations. 

Pandemic’s devastating impact

But while NHS chiefs and ministers said they were “cautiously optimistic” about reaching this milestone, a host of charities and independent experts were not. 

Sir Mike Richards, the former cancer tsar, told MPs that it was “most unlikely” that the target would be met.

Just 54 per cent of cancers are diagnosed at stage one or two, a situation which has remained unchanged for several years, MPs said. 

The report describes the devastating impact of the pandemic on access to cancer care.