Record one in 20 people are cancer patients or survivors – as number surged by 500k since 2020
ONE in 20 people are cancer patients or survivors, a charity found.
A record 3.4 million Brits alive at the end of this year will have had the disease.
The total, including those in remission, has surged by 500,000 since 2020.
It is down to a growing and ageing population, improved survival for some cancers, but also a rise in rates of others.
A third of Brits say NHS care has got worse, says Macmillan Cancer Support.
Boss Gemma Peters said: “How cancer impacts people’s relationships, jobs and finances can be worse because of who they are, or where they live.
“This must change.”
Around 400,000 people a year are diagnosed.
Half die within ten years.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer estimates yearly UK cases will rise to 650,000 by 2050, and deaths will increase from 182,000 a year to 279,000.
The NHS in England has not met its target of treating 85 per cent of patients within 62 days of a GP referral since 2015.
But the health service says more people than ever, nearly 60 per cent, are diagnosed in the early stages.