Nearly 200 fewer cancers detected in Morecambe Bay in 2020 – with less found at early stage

Cancer Research UK has urged the Government to improve outcomes for people with cancer.

In the former NHS Morecambe Bay Clinical Commissioning Group area, there were 1,983 cancers diagnosed in 2020 – 194 fewer than the year before when there were 2,177 diagnoses, according to latest NHS Digital figures.

Of those that were diagnosed, lung cancer was the most common accounting for 14.2% of diagnoses. This was followed by breast (11.5%) and prostate (10.9%) cancer.

The figures also show that alongside a drop in the number of cancers diagnosed in Morecambe Bay, the proportion found at an early stage also fell – 50% of cancers with a valid stage were diagnosed early in 2020, down from 51% in 2019.

Across England, there were roughly 40,400 fewer cancers diagnosed in 202, while the early diagnosis rate also tumbled to 51.9%, from 54.5% in 2019.

Jon Shelton, head of cancer intelligence at Cancer Research UK, said the coronavirus pandemic caused huge disruption to cancer care but added that a "crisis" facing cancer services was accelerated rather than caused by it.

He said: “We have been sounding the alarm on the importance of early diagnosis for years.

"Right now, the Government is falling short of its manifesto promise of improving cancer outcomes in the UK and significantly improving cancers diagnosed at their earliest stage.”

A fall in the national early diagnosis rate in 2020 followed two years of improvement – though the figure is yet to return to the high of 54.6% seen in 2014.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care did not respond to the cancer diagnosis figures, but said the department is "laser focused" on tackling cancer waiting lists across England, adding that 160 community diagnostic centres are being rolled out in a bid to tackle the backlogs caused by the pandemic.

“We continue to do all we can to fight cancer and we recently announced a new partnership with BioNTech to boost research into vaccines for cancer with the potential to transform outcomes for cancer patients,” they added.

In July 2022, clinical commissioning groups were abolished and replaced with integrated care boards across England.