Shedding light on less survivable cancers

These cancers are known as less survivable cancers and include:Research from the National Health Service (NHS) in the U.K. shows that people with these cancers often receive their diagnosis only after an emergency hospital admission or a doctor referral after symptoms become severe.Together, these cancers make up almost half of all common cancer deaths in the U.K.As just 4% of people in the U.K. know the symptoms of less survivable cancers, the LSCT launched Less Survivable Cancers Awareness Day on January 11, 2022, to raise awareness about these cancers and encourage individuals at risk to seek medical help.“The LSCT aims to increase the survivability of less survivable cancers to 28% by 2029,“ Anna Jewell, chair of the LSCT, told Medical News Today.“As well as raising the profile of less survivable cancers and their symptoms with the public, the Taskforce is calling for a step change in research funding for these cancers, and greater prioritization by governments of these cancers in national initiatives to improve cancer diagnosis and treatment to close the gap on cancer inequality,” she added.The LSCT says that less survivable cancers are difficult to diagnose early on, as screening programs are limited, and the general public is largely unaware of which symptoms to look out for.This means that many of these cancers are identified at later stages and thus pose a higher health risk. I also want to see the survival rates from these cancers increase dramatically either through more people being aware of potential symptoms and going to the doctors and catching them early or through better understanding by medical professionals and being able to treat them,” he added.One way to increase survival rates among less survivable cancers is to develop better diagnostic tools and treatments.“[In Oxford, we are focused] on developing better tools, including cancer early-detection blood tests, to pick out the most at-risk patients who need more invasive tests,“ said Prof. Jones.“We’re also working to discover and develop new drugs that work on especially challenging and novel targets – drugs which could provide new options for people with less survivable cancers and improve survival rates in future,” he added.Public awareness of symptoms and risk factors, including lifestyle, could also increase early detection of less survivable cancers and thus increase survival rates.“Some of the less survivable cancers are related to health behaviors, such as smoking and toxin exposure,” said Dr. Meyers.