Mary Macleod MP has backed efforts to “spot cancer early” at a major Cancer Research UK event in Parliament.

During the 3rd November event, the Brentford and Isleworth MP discussed the importance of diagnosing cancer earlier.  MPs heard about how the UK’s cancer survival rates are currently worse than those in Europe’s best performing countries, partly because we diagnose cancer later. 

Mary said: “One in three people can expect a cancer diagnosis in their lifetime, and I want to make sure we’re all doing what we can to reduce that number.

“Around 10,000 deaths could be avoided each year in the UK if we diagnosed cancer earlier.  This is because when cancer is diagnosed at an early stage, treatment is almost always simpler and more likely to be effective.  So this means that looking at ways to improve earlier diagnosis is a really crucial way that we can tackle cancer in the future.”

Aisling Burnand, Executive Director of Policy and Public Affairs at Cancer Research UK, said: “We are calling for the Government to commit to beating cancer through diagnosing cancer earlier.  The Government must ensure that GPs are given greater access to the tests they need to diagnose cancer, and secondly accurately record the stage at which the majority of patients’ cancers are diagnosed.  This will help us monitor trends and drive progress on early diagnosis more quickly in poor performing areas.”

The reception was part of the charity’s Commit to Beat Cancer campaign, which identifies five main areas to address in order to improve cancer survival rates -  preventing more cancers, tackling inequalities, protecting the science research base, providing access to world class treatment and detecting cancer earlier.