Britain is among the worst in the world at detecting cancer early, with more than a third of cases only diagnosed after visits to accident and emergency departments, research suggests.
Cancer survival rates in the UK have long lagged behind those of comparable countries, with warnings that too many cases are missed by GPs, with too many patients diagnosed when the disease is advanced and more difficult to treat.
The new research – the first study of its kind – compared hospital admissions from 14 areas in six comparable high-income countries.
Britain was placed second from bottom in the international league tables, with only New Zealand having a higher proportion of cancer diagnoses made through emergency routes.
Other factors could exacerbate situation
Experts said the figures were “worrying” – and raised fears the situation could worsen in coming years because of backlogs built up during the pandemic, and difficulties accessing checks.
The study found that when patients were diagnosed as an emergency case, they were twice as likely to die in the next 12 months compared with other cancer patients.
Researchers from University College London compared diagnosis of eight major cancers between 2012 to 2017 with findings published in The Lancet Oncology.
In total, 37 per cent of patients in England and Wales and 39 per cent of those in Scotland were only diagnosed after being rushed to hospital. Only New Zealand fared worst, with rates of 42.5 per cent.
By contrast, Ontario in Canada had a figure of 26.1 per cent, with all Canadian provinces and sites in Australia and Norway all performing better than the UK.
The study found that those aged 75 and over were more likely to be diagnosed as an emergency case.
Survival levels could decline
Michelle Mitchell, Cancer Research UK’s chief executive, said: “For months we have been warning that cancer survival could go backwards due to the pandemic.
“The UK is already lagging when it comes to cancer survival – this study helps us understand why, showing that countries with higher levels of emergency presentations have lower survival.
“If we want to build a world-class cancer service, we need to learn from comparable countries and ensure fewer patients are being diagnosed with cancer after an emergency referral or trip to A&E.
“We’d like to see governments across the UK take bold action on this within their cancer plans – so that by 2032, fewer than 10 per cent of cancer cases are diagnosed through emergency routes.”
The study found that on average, across all 12 sites, 46 per cent of people with pancreatic cancer were diagnosed as emergencies. In England and Wales the figure was much higher at 56 per cent, rising to 59 per cent in Scotland.
Some 34 per cent of people in England and Wales and 35 per cent in Scotland were diagnosed with bowel cancer in an emergency, compared with 27 per cent in Ontario and 32 per cent in New South Wales in Australia.
The study, from the International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership (ICBP), working with Cancer Research UK, included 857,068 patients.
For bowel, stomach, lung, liver, pancreatic and ovarian cancer, a 10 per cent increase in the percentage of emergency admissions in a region was linked to a drop in one-year survival of between three and seven per cent.
Cancers that often had non-specific, vague symptoms, such as pancreatic, liver, lung, and ovarian cancer, were also more likely to be diagnosed in A&E.
An NHS spokesperson said: “This study examines people diagnosed between 2012 and 2017 and actually the proportion of cancer patients who are diagnosed through an emergency route has been falling steadily since then.
“NHS staff have been referring more people for urgent cancer checks over the last 11 months than ever before, with more than 200,000 patients checked in January alone, so please come forward if you have symptoms. Coming forward for checks early could save your life.”
