Early cancer diagnosis could save 10,000 lives a year. Major campaign to alert the public to the warning signs of cancer
15 June 2011
Launch event: Wednesday 15 June at 9.30am to 11.00
The Old Library, Garrod Building, The Royal London Hospital, Stepney Way, Whitechapel, London E1 2AD
Press office contacts: Nicki Defago on 020 7480 4878 / Courtney Lock on 020 7480 4843
An NHS campaign launches today alerting people to the five warning signs of breast cancer and lung cancer, which require immediate GP attention.
The ‘small c’ campaign aims to show that most cancers can be successfully treated if caught when they are small and vulnerable to treatment.
Nine out of ten women with breast cancer and the majority of people with lung cancer survive, providing the disease is diagnosed at an early stage (see tables).
The initiative is a partnership between NHS East London and the City, NHS Waltham Forest, Barts and The London NHS Trust and the North East London Cancer Network. Other partners are Barts Cancer Centre, Homerton, Newham and Whipps Cross University Hospitals, as well as local GPs, pharmacists and community groups.
Research shows that up to 10,000 deaths in the UK each year could be avoided, primarily through earlier diagnosis when the disease can be treated more successfully [1].
Professor Nick Lemoine, Director of Barts Cancer Centre, which treats thousands of patients in the campaign’s target area, said: “Today’s advances in medicine mean that many forms of cancer have high survival rates, provided they are diagnosed at an early stage, so cancer is no longer a fatal disease.
"The aim of this campaign is to encourage people to be alert to the early-warning signs of cancer and not to delay in going to a doctor.”
The first phase of the campaign will target lung and breast cancer, the two most commonly diagnosed forms of cancer, affecting almost 90,000 people[1] a year in the UK.
A website will be launched for each cancer, containing the key information people need to know.
Cancer symptoms checklists will appear on leaflets, posters and other publicity material in GP surgeries and pharmacies across east London – which covers some of the UK’s most deprived areas and where cancer survival rates are lower than the national average[2], primarily because of low levels of symptoms awareness and late diagnosis.
They will list the signs to watch for, which might indicate lung cancer as:
- A cough for more than three weeks or if a cough has changed or got worse
- Shortness of breath
- Coughing up phlegm with blood in it
- Hoarse voice
Unexplained weight loss
For breast cancer, women are urged to adopt the ‘TLC’ approach: Touch – feel for a lump or other changes, Look for changes in shape and texture, and Check with their GP if they find any changes. These changes could include any of the following:
- Lump which may not be seen but can be felt
- Changes in skin texture e.g. dimpling/puckering
- Changes in appearance or direction of nipple
- Nipple discharge
- Rash or crusting
LUNG CANCER CASE STUDY
Jane Malone, 52, who lives in Stepney was working in Sainsbury’s in the winter of 2009 when she caught a nasty cold that left her with a persistent cough. Everyone in the store was ill and she didn’t think too much of it. She and her partner Paul went to Goa on holiday but even the warm weather didn’t help her cough and Jane went to the GP when she came back to the UK.
“The cough was driving me mad” she says, but I also noticed that my joints were aching and I was getting very sensitive to touch.” The GP referred Jane to Mile End Hospital for a chest x-ray, which showed a lump the size of a small orange on the right lung. She was diagnosed with lung cancer.
In June 2010 Jane started her treatment, which involved surgery at The London Chest Hospital, followed by a 12 week course of chemotherapy on the lymph nodes at Barts Hospital. The chemotherapy was precautionary – Jane’s consultant Professor Barnes was confident that the cancer hadn’t spread. Jane gave up smoking before the surgery and is now fit and well.
She says of the experience, “It was just ten minutes of my day, that first trip to the GP, but it saved my life. Only the other day I was out with my daughter Hayley and grand-children (Charlie, age 10 and Teddy, age 3). I might not be doing that if I hadn’t gone to the GP when that awful cough wouldn’t go away”.
BREAST CANCER CASE STUDY
Research published in the International Journal of Cancer showed nearly a thousand deaths from breast cancer could be avoided each year through early diagnosis.
Charity worker, Frances Clarke, 57, from Forest Gate discovered she had cancer just before Christmas, seven years ago, but today is fit and healthy.
"One day when I was washing I looked in the mirror and I saw a tiny lump.
“My first reaction was to ignore it. I had a busy life, I didn't feel ill and I didn't want to make a fuss about something that would probably turn out to be a false alarm. But I knew that it couldn't be ignored.”
Frances went to the doctor the next morning and was referred to Barts Hospital for tests, which confirmed that the lump was cancerous. She was admitted just after Christmas for a partial mastectomy.
Three weeks later analysis of the breast tissue showed that Frances had the most aggressive kind of cancer. For this reason her oncologist recommended a course of chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
“By reacting quickly I was able to have the cancer removed before it could spread around my body”.
Frances is now running a cancer awareness project encouraging women and girls to recognise the signs and symptoms of breast cancer and to have the confidence to go to the doctor straight away if they think something may be wrong.
She said: “There are so many treatments now for cancer. But we can't benefit from these medical advances if we don't get help quickly. Our lives are in our own hands."
Notes to Editors:
Five year survival rates from diagnosis
Breast Cancer[3]
|
Stage |
Five year survival rate |
|
Stage I |
91.9% |
|
Stage II |
72.9% |
|
Stage III |
50.3% |
|
Stage IV |
13% |
|
Unknown |
65.8% |
Lung cancer*[4]
|
Stage |
Five year survival rate |
|
Stage 1A |
Up to 73% |
|
Stage 1B |
Up to 58% |
|
Stage 2A |
Up to 46% |
|
Stage 2B |
Up to 36% |
|
Stage 3A |
Up to 24% |
|
Stage 3B |
Up to 9% |
|
Stage 4 |
Up to 13% |
*Statistics refer to non small cell lung cancer, the most common form of the disease, which is diagnosed in 88% of cases.
Both the above case-studies are available for interview via the press office. Also available jpegs of all campaign material for breast and lung, including breast cancer leaflet with information on how to examine breasts.
The first phase of the ‘small c’ campaign is being funded by the Department of Health through the National Awareness and Early Diagnosis Initiative (see below). The campaign is also supported by the Barts and The London Charity. It is being co‐ordinated by Barts and The London in conjunction with NHS North East London and City, Waltham Forest and the North East London Cancer Network.
The ‘small c’ campaign
Cancer is often referred to as the ‘Big C’ because some people have such a fatalistic view of the disease that they can’t even say the word. Thankfully, for most cancer patients, today’s treatments are likely to be successful, providing the disease is spotted early. The ‘small c’ campaign is all about helping people to recognise the warning signs of cancer soon enough to be treated when the cancer is still small and more vulnerable to treatment.
The first phase of the campaign is being funded by the Department of Health through the National Awareness and Early diagnosis Initiative (see below). The campaign is also supported by the Barts and The London Charity.
Background
The Cancer Reform Strategy, published in 2007, identified later diagnosis of cancer as ‘a major factor in the poorer survival rates in the UK’ observed in the EUROCARE studies3. Up to 10,000 deaths in the UK every year are avoidable, primarily through earlier diagnosis, when the disease can be treated more successfully.
The cancer reform strategy set out three national priorities for achieving earlier diagnosis:
- Raising public awareness/encouraging the public to seek help early
- Ensuring that patients presenting with possible cancer are investigated appropriately and referred to hospital without delay
- Extending and widening screening
The National Awareness and Early Diagnosis Initiative (NAEDI), which is driving and coordinating measures to encourage earlier diagnosis, developed the Cancer Awareness Measurement (CAM) tool to benchmark awareness of cancer symptoms, risk factors, incidence, and screening programmes and attitudes towards seeking help.
Research using the tool concluded that low awareness of the signs and symptoms of cancer, fear of diagnosis, embarrassment and concern about not being taken seriously by GPs and ‘wasting their time’, are significant factors in patient-associated delay in later diagnosis. Economic deprivation was also identified as a key risk in poorer survival.
[1] Cancer Research UK statistics; http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/cancerstats/incidence/)
[2] Sant et al, 2003. Berrino et al, 2007. The National Awareness and Early Diagnosis Initiative in England: assembling the evidence. British Journal of Cancer, December 2009.
[3] West Midlands Cancer Intelligence Unit, 2009 available at
[4] The International Staging Committee of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer 2009 available at http://www.atcs.jp/pdf/2009_15_1/4.pdf