More people in Yorkshire are diagnosed with cancer following an emergency hospital admission than any other region in England

More than a fifth of cancers in Yorkshire are discovered following an emergency hospital admission - the highest proportion of anywhere in the country, according to data from Yorkshire Cancer Research.

In a typical year in Yorkshire, 21% of cancers are diagnosed through emergency routes, such as visiting A&E, which is higher than the England average of 19%.

Of the cancers in England diagnosed through an emergency route, three quarters are at a late stage. This is compared to only 1 in 10 cancers diagnosed at a late stage through screening. The later a cancer is diagnosed, the harder it is to treat, often leading to lower survival rates. More severe symptoms that require immediate attention, like a visit to A&E, are more likely to be caused by advanced cancers.

Currently, half of cancers in Yorkshire are diagnosed at Stage 3 or 4. The NHS Long Term Plan has set a target for 75% of all cancers to be diagnosed early by 2028. However, analysis from Yorkshire Cancer Research reveals Yorkshire will miss this target by seven years without improving access to cancer screening.

Improving early diagnosis in Yorkshire is one of four policy areas the charity is asking political leaders to support as part of its Change Yorkshire's Cancer Story campaign.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, routine screening appointments were postponed, and people were less likely to visit their doctor with potential cancer symptoms.

In 2020, the number of people diagnosed with cancer through screening was at its lowest since 2006 when records began. At the same time, 23% of people diagnosed with cancer were diagnosed via an emergency route, the highest it had been since 2008.

Dr Griffiths continued: “We may still be seeing the effects of the pandemic on cancer survival rates, as more people were diagnosed at a later stage. It is vital that we do all we can to ensure these numbers do not continue to fall below pre-pandemic levels.”

Yorkshire Cancer Research funds services across the region to help encourage people to attend their screening appointments when invited, raise awareness of cancer signs and symptoms, and encourage people to speak to their GP with any symptoms.

The Leeds Lung Health Check trial, funded by Yorkshire Cancer Research and delivered in partnership with Leeds Teaching Hospitals and the University of Leeds, offered people who are at a higher risk of lung cancer the opportunity to be scanned for early signs of the disease.

Since it began at the end of 2018, nearly 8,000 people have been screened and almost 350 lung cancers detected. Many of these cancers were found at an early stage when they can often be treated successfully.

The NHS will take over the running of the Leeds Lung Health Check when the trial ends this summer. This will ensure people in Yorkshire, where lung cancer is the biggest cause of cancer deaths, will continue to have access to life-saving screening. Data from the trial was also crucial in helping inform the national lung screening programme, set to be rolled out across the country by 2029.

The Leeds GP Confederation’s Cancer Screening and Awareness Programme, funded by the charity, is encouraging more people to take part in cancer screening. The programme focuses on eight areas of the city with the highest levels of deprivation. Each of these ‘Primary Care Networks’ has a cancer care coordinator who helps people in the city take part in the national screening programmes for bowel, cervical and breast cancer.

Claire Nanyonga now works as one of the programme’s cancer care coordinators following her own experience with cervical screening that may have saved her life.

Claire had been putting off her screening for more than a year when she first noticed some unusual symptoms. She attended a cervical screening appointment and the results showed that she had grade 3 pre-cancerous cells. After having further tests at hospital, Claire had the cells removed and six months later, another screening confirmed everything was normal.

Claire continued: "Now I am using my own experience to help others attend their screening, encourage people to come forward to their GP with symptoms and find solutions for why people living in some communities, particularly in areas with more deprivation, may not attend their appointments.”

Yorkshire Cancer Research funds research to further understand the reasons behind late diagnosis and how people can be supported to come forward with treatment.

The RURALLY study, funded by Yorkshire Cancer Research and led by researchers at the University of Newcastle, aimed to discover why people living in rural areas of North Yorkshire are less likely to survive cancer than those living in urban towns and cities.

The study found that long travel times to GPs, concerns about losing time from work and a stoic attitude towards health concerns were all factors preventing people from going to their GP with symptoms of bowel cancer. The findings will help inform new ways of encouraging people to speak to their doctors about signs and symptoms of cancer.

If you would like to see early diagnosis made a priority in Yorkshire, join Yorkshire Cancer Research’s Change Yorkshire’s Cancer Story campaign.