The number of cancer cases in the UK has hit a record level, with one being diagnosed every 80 seconds, figures suggest.
More than 403,000 patients are told they have the disease each year, according to a report by the charity Cancer Research UK.
This is largely due to a growing ageing population, with people becoming more likely to develop cancer as they age.
Cancer Research UK warned that NHS services were struggling to cope, with cancer waiting times now among the worst on record.
Cancer cases have risen to 620 per 10,000 people, from 610 a decade ago, while the number of diagnoses at an early stage has increased from 54 per cent to 55 per cent.
However, death rates have fallen and the proportion of patients surviving for a decade or more with the disease has risen, according to the analysis.
But the charity warns that this progress is at risk of stalling, in part due to the pressure on cancer services.
It said the Government’s recently published National Cancer Plan for England was a ‘crucial step’ towards improving care, but there needed to be ‘funding and resources to translate ambition into impact’.
Cancer Research UK warned that NHS services were struggling to cope, with cancer waiting times now among the worst on record
Cancer Research UK chief executive Michelle Mitchell said: ‘Publishing the plan is not a “job done” on cancer – ambitions to diagnose cancers earlier, meet cancer wait targets and improve best-practice treatment must happen quickly.’
The charity wants screening programmes to be rolled out widely and the introduction of innovative cancer tests to be accelerated.
Around 107,000 cancer patients were forced to wait for more than 62 days to start treatment last year, it said.
Cameron Miller, of the Less Survivable Cancers Taskforce, said: ‘The record level of UK cancer cases is concerning, particularly for the thousands of individuals diagnosed with less survivable cancers – those of the brain, liver, lung, oesophagus, pancreas and stomach.
‘While overall cancer survival has improved, these cancers have been left behind in funding and awareness, and all have a five-year survival rate of less than 20 per cent.’
The Department of Health and Social Care said: ‘We have delivered a record number of diagnostic tests in the last 12 months, backed by an extra £26billion for the NHS – and the number of patients getting a cancer diagnosis or all-clear on time is the highest in five years.
‘Our National Cancer Plan sets out how patients will receive a diagnosis faster, treatment sooner and better support to live well with cancer, with the aim of 75 per cent of patients diagnosed from 2035 to be cancer-free or living well after five years.’
