The number of people who have undergone surgery to treat or prevent cancer has doubled in the past decade, with many more cases reported in the UK than in the US, according to a new study.
But, the authors warn that a new trend is likely to hit Britain, the US and Canada, and could have serious consequences for patients and their health.
The number of cancer patients in the three countries is expected to double by 2035, to 865,000, according the report, published by the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME).
This is compared to the 459,000 cancer cases reported to the British National Health Service (NHS), which is a higher figure than the UK’s 645,000.
The report was compiled by the IHME and NHS England.
Dr James Wills, director of the IWMS NHS England Cancer Prevention Programme, said the report highlighted the urgent need to get on top of the trends.
“We’ve got to change the way we’re seeing cancer in the NHS and in our society, to try and address the issues of how we’re thinking about cancer, and the way cancer is treated,” he said.
“If we don’t do anything about this, the disease will continue to grow.”
The NHS has already started reducing cancer care in England by a quarter in the last five years, but Dr Wills said it needed to take its own steps to improve care for patients.
“There’s no magic wand and no magic pill that we can use to stop it,” he told BBC News.
“But we can try and take action in our own way, which is to try to improve our health care system.”
To do that we need to think about the best way of improving the care we provide for people with cancer.
“He said the NHS was working on ways of identifying patients most likely to need cancer treatment, but the new report found that in some areas, there was still “a gap” in how doctors and patients were sharing information.”
What we need is for doctors and hospitals to work together more closely to see if there’s a way that they can collaborate more closely,” he added.
The NHS is investing in new technology to better recognise cancer patients, which will help doctors, nurses and other health professionals better understand how to treat and prevent them.
But the new study suggests that the NHS is not yet up to the challenge of treating patients effectively, and is facing significant hurdles in its attempts to do so.
Dr Wills warned that patients could end up suffering for longer if they do not receive a diagnosis as soon as they become ill, and if they remain in a hospital environment for longer than the NHS recommends.”
When you have a diagnosis of cancer, you’re in the hospital for around three weeks and if you go home you’re at home for another two weeks,” he explained.”
People will end up in hospital for longer because they don’t get a diagnosis until they’re in a coma or they’re on a ventilator or in the ICU.
“He urged the Government to make the NHS more transparent and accountable about the care it provides to patients.
The IHCE study found that more than 70% of people with diagnosed cancer in England were being sent home within a week or less.
But Dr Wers said there was a need for more information about how cancer is diagnosed and treated, and how patients can access the latest technology.”
I think we have to change our approach to cancer care, to what we’re doing, to our care of patients,” he suggested.”
Because if we don, we’re going to continue to see these problems of how cancer gets treated.