Category Archives: Cancer

Streeting considers reviving dedicated cancer strategy after Tories axed it

Posted on by

Health secretary is examining case for a comprehensive plan for England to tackle UK’s second-biggest killer

Wes Streeting may revive the use of a dedicated cancer strategy to tackle the UK’s second biggest killer after experts warned the Conservatives’ scrapping of it was “a disaster” for patients.

The health secretary is considering publishing a new comprehensive plan for England, amid record numbers of people being diagnosed with the disease and NHS cancer services struggling to meet demand.

Continue reading...

EPA will withdraw approval of Chevron plastic-based fuels likely to cause cancer

Posted on by

The decision comes after a ProPublica and Guardian investigation revealed that the EPA had found that one of the fuels had a huge cancer risk

The US Environmental Protection Agency is planning to withdraw and reconsider its approval for Chevron to produce 18 plastic-based fuels, including some that an internal agency assessment found are highly likely to cause cancer.

In a recent court filing, the federal agency said it “has substantial concerns” that the approval order “may have been made in error”. The EPA gave a Chevron refinery in Mississippi the green light to make the chemicals in 2022 under a “climate-friendly” initiative intended to boost alternatives to petroleum, as ProPublica and the Guardian reported last year.

Continue reading...

Comedian Janey Godley receiving end-of-life care for cancer

Posted on by

Scottish standup posts video saying she is getting palliative care and will be going into a hospice

The comedian Janey Godley has revealed she is receiving end-of-life care after her terminal cancer spread.

The 63-year-old announced she would be getting palliative care and going into a hospice in a video shared on social media on Wednesday.

Continue reading...

‘Astounding’ lack of menopause education for Australia’s medical students must be remedied, Mark Butler says

Posted on by

Federal health minister also calls for prosecution of shopkeepers caught illegally selling vapes

The federal health minister, Mark Butler, says he is “astounded” that medical students can spend as little as one hour learning about menopause and has signalled that the government is likely to take action after a damning parliamentary inquiry.

On Sunday Butler told the ABC’s Insiders that several inquiries had told a “shameful story” about women’s treatment in Australia’s health system, saying there was more to do after Labor’s “modest investments” in women’s health.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Mental health overtakes cancer and obesity as Britons’ biggest health worry

Posted on by

Ipsos survey asked people in 31 countries what they thought of their health and healthcare

Mental health has overtaken cancer and obesity as the health problem most Britons worry about, a global survey has revealed.

Experts said the shift in the public’s perception reflected the sharp rise in recent years in mental ill-health caused by the Covid pandemic, the cost of living crisis and male violence against women.

Continue reading...

Elle Macpherson refused chemotherapy after secret breast cancer diagnosis

Posted on by

Supermodel says she is in remission after being diagnosed seven years ago and rejecting traditional medicine

Elle Macpherson has said she was diagnosed with breast cancer seven years ago but is now in remission despite refusing chemotherapy.

The Australian supermodel and actor, who rose to fame in the 1980s, is publishing a memoir – Elle: Life, Lessons, and Learning to Trust Yourself – in which she says she took a holistic approach to the illness, going against the advice of 32 doctors.

Continue reading...

Will Labour resist the ‘killer tactics’ of industry’s enemies of public health?

Posted on by

A new report lays down a challenge to Keir Starmer to take on vested interests of food, drink and tobacco companies

Illness, disease and death can be the result of bad luck, genetic factors or people’s lifestyles – whether someone smokes, drinks a lot or consumes a lot of junk food, for example.

The role of lifestyle in explaining why the UK is an increasingly sick country, and the growing pressures on the NHS, is often underappreciated. Experts tend to cite the growing and, especially, ageing population, which are both key factors.

Continue reading...

Cost of England’s four biggest killer diseases could hit £86bn by 2050

Posted on by

Study predicts overall economic cost of cancer, heart disease, dementia and stroke will rise by 61%

The cost of England’s four biggest killer diseases could rise to £86bn a year by 2050, prompting calls for a crackdown on alcohol, junk food and smoking.

The ageing population means the annual cost of cancer, heart disease, dementia and stroke combined will go from the £51.9bn recorded in 2018 to £85.6bn in 2050 – a rise of 61%.

Continue reading...

Women in England could be offered DIY cervical screening tests on NHS

Posted on by

Research suggests at-home tests could encourage 400,000 more women a year to have a screening

Women could be offered DIY cervical screening tests on the NHS, after research found self-testing at home significantly improved screening rates.

Researchers calculated that being able to take their sample at home could encourage about 400,000 more women a year to have a cervical screening.

Continue reading...

Call for action on UK men’s health as 133,000 die early every year

Posted on by

Movember says British men have worse health than comparable countries and suffer stark regional inequalities

More than 133,000 men die early every year in the UK, equating to 15 every hour, according to a report calling for urgent action to improve men’s health.

Two in five men are dying prematurely, before the age of 75 and often from entirely avoidable health conditions, research by the charity Movember found.

In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org

Continue reading...

From contaminated blood to birth trauma, how female NHS patients’ concerns are ignored

Posted on by

England’s patient safety commissioner says NHS patients raising concerns are dismissed as ‘difficult women’

England’s patient safety commissioner, Henrietta Hughes, has warned that NHS patients raising concerns are too often “gaslighted”, “fobbed off” or dismissed as “difficult women”.

“It shows a very dismissive and very old fashioned, patronising attitude to patients who have identified problems and need to have their voices heard,” she said.

Continue reading...

NHS urged to prioritise cancer care basics over tech and AI ‘magic bullets’

Posted on by

Health service is at tipping point, say experts, and ‘novel solutions’ have been wrongly hyped

The NHS must concentrate on the basics of cancer treatment rather than the “magic bullets” of novel technologies and artificial intelligence, or risk the health of thousands of patients, experts have warned.

In a paper published in the journal Lancet Oncology, nine leading cancer doctors and academics say the NHS is at a tipping point in cancer care with survival rates lagging behind many other developed countries.

Continue reading...

Speaker at Labour manifesto launch is cancer-free after terminal diagnosis

Posted on by

Music teacher Nathaniel Dye, 38, who had spoken about delays for treatment, gave update on Tuesday

A man who had a terminal cancer diagnosis, and who described Labour as “the party of hope for a brighter future I won’t live to see” at the party’s manifesto launch, is now cancer-free.

Nathaniel Dye, a 38-year-old music teacher, was diagnosed with stage four incurable bowel cancer in October 2022, and tumours were understood to have spread to his lungs, liver and lymph nodes.

Continue reading...

Women urged to accept NHS cervical screening invitations

Posted on by

NHS England says its ambition to wipe disease out by 2040 relies on more under-50s coming forward

Women have been urged by NHS officials to attend cervical screenings after figures showed a third of those under 50 do not take up their invitation.

Each year, about 3,200 women in the UK are diagnosed with cervical cancer and 850 die from it. It is the 14th most common cancer affecting women in Britain, with women aged 30 to 34 most likely to be diagnosed with it.

Continue reading...

Deadly cancer treatment delays now ‘routine’ in NHS, say damning reports

Posted on by

Studies sound alarm at state of cancer care with hundreds of thousands waiting months to start essential treatment

Hundreds of thousands of people are being forced to wait months to start essential cancer treatment, with deadly delays now “routine” and even children struck by the disease denied vital support, according to a series of damning reports.

Health chiefs, charities and doctors have sounded the alarm over the state of cancer care in the UK as three separate studies painted a shocking picture of long waits and NHS staff being severely hampered by a worsening workforce crisis and a chronic lack of equipment.

Continue reading...

Pop singer Kevin Jonas documents skin cancer treatment

Posted on by

Jonas Brothers star revealed he has had surgery for basal cell carcinoma, advising followers to get moles checked

Pop singer Kevin Jonas, a member of chart-topping trio the Jonas Brothers, has received treatment for skin cancer.

In an Instagram video, the 36-year-old singer, guitarist, actor and reality TV star said he had been diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma.

Continue reading...

Scientists develop glowing dye that sticks to cancer cells in breakthrough study

Posted on by

Experts say fluorescent dye, which spotlights tiny cancerous tissue invisible to naked eye, could reduce risk of cancer returning

Scientists have developed a glowing dye that sticks to cancer cells and gives surgeons a “second pair of eyes” to remove them in real time and permanently eradicate the disease. Experts say the breakthrough could reduce the risk of cancer coming back and prevent debilitating side-effects.

The fluorescent dye spotlights tiny cancerous tissue that cannot be seen by the naked eye, enabling surgeons to remove every last cancer cell while preserving healthy tissue. That could mean fewer life-changing side effects after surgery.

Continue reading...

Women in England and Wales denied ‘exciting’ drug that can stop breast cancer spreading

Posted on by

Latest study shows Enhertu, rejected by Nice, can stall growth of tumours by a year, longer than standard chemotherapy

Thousands of women with advanced breast cancer in England and Wales are being denied a drug that cuts the risk of the disease spreading by more than a third.

Enhertu has been rolled out to patients with HER2-low breast cancer in Scotland and Northern Ireland, but the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) has rejected it for patients in England. Women in Wales are also being denied the drug.

Continue reading...

Trial results for new lung cancer drug are ‘off the charts’, say doctors

Posted on by

More than half of patients with advanced forms of disease who took lorlatinib were still alive after five years with no progression

Doctors are hailing “off the chart” trial results that show a new drug stopped lung cancer advancing for longer than any other treatment in medical history.

Lung cancer is the world’s leading cause of cancer death, accounting for about 1.8m deaths every year. Survival rates in those with advanced forms of the disease, where tumours have spread, are particularly poor.

Continue reading...