Cancer

One in two of us will get it. Half now survive ten years or more, and how early it is found decides most of that.

What it is

Around one in two people in the UK will be diagnosed with cancer at some point. Around 385,000 new cases a year.

Cancer is not one disease. It is more than 200, sharing one mechanism: cells that grow and divide when they should not, and that can spread.

Half of people diagnosed now survive ten years or more, roughly double the figure of the early 1970s. Most of that improvement came from earlier diagnosis, not from more dramatic treatment.

The UK still diagnoses cancer later than comparable countries, and that gap accounts for a meaningful share of the difference in survival. Which makes presenting early the most useful thing anybody reading this can do.

Signs you might notice

The general warning signs worth acting on: an unexplained lump, unexplained weight loss, unexplained bleeding from anywhere, a persistent cough or hoarseness for three weeks, a change in bowel or bladder habit, a sore that will not heal, a mole that changes, persistent unexplained pain, or unusual fatigue.

None of these usually means cancer. All of them mean get checked.

In people who cannot report symptoms, the signals are behavioural: withdrawal, refusing food, new distress, guarding a part of the body.

How it can affect day-to-day life

The delays that matter are the ones before the appointment. People wait because they are frightened, because they do not want to waste anybody's time, or because they are told it is probably nothing.

For people with a learning disability, cancer is diagnosed later and screening uptake is far lower. Diagnostic overshadowing is the mechanism, and the LeDeR reviews document it.

Living with cancer is now often long-term rather than acute, and the consequences of treatment, fatigue, neuropathy, lymphoedema, early menopause, cognitive change, need managing for years.

Supporting someone well

Attend screening: bowel, breast and cervical. Support other people to attend, and ask about adjustments.

Present early. Any of the warning signs above deserves an appointment this week, not next month.

For anybody who cannot describe symptoms, treat unexplained behaviour change as a possible physical cause and ask for it to be investigated.

Ask for a clinical nurse specialist, who is usually the most useful contact in the whole system.

Address treatment consequences actively rather than accepting them, particularly fatigue.

Get the practical things done early: benefits, work conversations, and where relevant, advance care planning.

Fiducia Guardian holds appointments, medicines, consents and the whole team, which in cancer care typically spans several hospitals.

Where to get help

See a GP, and ask directly whether a two-week wait referral is appropriate.

Macmillan Cancer Support: 0808 808 00 00, free, and their benefits advice is excellent.

Maggie's centres provide practical and psychological support without an appointment.