Cancer Services [report]

House of Commons Library | April 2022 | Cancer Services

Cancer survival has improved significantly over the past half century: it is a story of progress which is a testament to both the progress of science and the efforts of the NHS under successive governments. Despite such progress, cancer outcomes in England remain behind other comparable countries.

The Committee’s inquiry was focused on asking how these differences have arisen and how the Government should resolve them. Therefore, the chapters of this Report focus on the different issues which the Committee have heard contribute to lower cancer survival in England, they include the importance of early diagnosis; access to the best cancer treatments; variation between cancer services, and different cancer types; and, the importance of research and innovation in catching up with the best countries in the world.

Cancer services Twelfth Report of Session 2021–22 [report]

In the news:

BBC News NHS not making progress on early cancer diagnosis

Cancer Research UK: Cancer Patient Experience Survey 2020 The impact of COVID-19 on cancer patients in the UK

Cancer Research UK| July 2020| Cancer Patient Experience Survey 2020 The impact of COVID-19 on cancer patients in the UK

Taken from the Executive Summary

Overall for many cancer patients the COVID-19 pandemic appears to have had a significant impact on their testing and treatment, and most notably their care:

• 40 % of cancer patients surveyed reported that their testing had been impacted.

•One- third of patients surveyed reported that their treatment had been impacted.

• 2 in 3 cancer patients reported that their cancer care had been impacted.

• Ratings of overall cancer care as ‘very good’ decreased from 75% ‘before lockdown started’ to 37% ‘after lockdown started’.

• Possible significant differences in experience were found by region in England for testing, treatment and care (p less than .01).

• Possible significant[1] differences in experience for care was flagged for social economic status (SES), nation, region and cancer type (p less than .01).

• 71% of cancer patients stated that they had been treated in the same hospital as usual, with no significant differences by SES, cancer type, nation or region.

This has resulted in a negative impact on the emotional well-being of many cancer patients:

• The most common emotions reported were ‘anxious’ and ‘frustrated’. This was consistent for all patients surveyed, those who reported to have their testing and treatment impacted, and across breakdowns (SES, nation region and cancer type).

• ‘Catching COVID-19’ and ‘becoming seriously ill from COVID-19’ were the most selected concerns, and there was a lot of frustration reported in the open text comments

Full report available from Cancer Research UK

National Audit of Breast Cancer in Older Patients: 2019 Annual Report

Health Quality Improvement Programme | May 2019 | National Audit of Breast Cancer in Older Patients: 2019 Annual Report

The third Annual Report from Health Quality Improvement Programme describes the process and outcomes of care for 147,162 patients, diagnosed with breast cancer between 1st January 2014 and 31st December 2017 in England and Wales. The patterns of care received by people aged 70+ years are compared with the care received by people diagnosed with breast cancer aged 50–69 years. We also distinguish between the following groups of people with breast cancer:

1. Ductal carcinoma in situ.
2. Early invasive breast cancer.
3. Metastatic breast cancer.

 

Image source: hqip.org.uk

The report is written primarily for clinicians, providers of breast cancer services, commissioners and healthcare regulators. A version for patients and the
wider public is being produced separately and will be available in summer 2019. 

National Audit of Breast Cancer in Older Patients: 2019 

 

18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography-computed-tomography (PET CT) as part of radical radiotherapy treatment planning for oesophageal cancer (all ages)

NHS England | April 2019 | 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography-computed-tomography (PET CT) as part of radical radiotherapy treatment planning for oesophageal cancer (all ages)

NHS England will not routinely commission 18F-FDG-PET CT as part of radical radiotherapy treatment planning for oesophageal cancer in accordance with the criteria outlined in this document.

In creating this policy NHS England has reviewed this clinical condition and the options for its treatment. It has considered the place of this treatment in current clinical practice, whether scientific research has shown the treatment to be of benefit to patients, (including how any benefit is balanced against possible risks) and whether its use represents the best use of NHS resources (Source: NHS England).

Further details including the evidence review, evidence report and clinical panel report are available from NHS England.

Pazopanib for inoperable and metastatic malignant granular cell tumour (all ages)

NHS England | April 2019 | Pazopanib for inoperable and metastatic malignant granular cell tumour (all ages)

NHS England have released a  policystatement to confirm that pazopanib is not recommended as a treatment option for inoperable and metastatic malignant granular cell tumours (all ages).

Policy Statement: Pazopanib for inoperable and metastatic malignant granular cell tumour

Pazopanib for inoperable and metastatic malignant granular cell tumour: Engagement Report

Pazopanib for inoperable and metastatic malignant granular cell tumour: CPAG Summary Report

Pazopanib for inoperable and metastatic malignant granular cell tumour: Clinical Panel Report

National Lung Cancer Audit: Clinical Outcome Publication Report 2018

Health Quality Improvement Programme | February 2019 | National Lung Cancer Audit: Clinical Outcome Publication Report 2018

Health Quality Improvement Programme (HQIP) have produced the fifth report on the individual activity of surgeons and their contribution to lung cancer care. The data relate to patients diagnosed with lung cancer who underwent surgery during the period between 1 January and 31 December 2016.

Image source: hqip.org.uk

In addition to publishing the number of operations performed by hospitals and by individual consultant surgeons, the following outcomes are reported:

• the proportion of patients who survive at 30 days, 90 days and 1 year after their operation for each unit
• the median length of stay in hospital following an operation
• the proportion of patients who were readmitted within 90 days of hospital discharge
• the pooled resection rates for the lung cancer team meetings (MDTs) which a surgical unit serves (Source: HQIP)

Download the full report from HQIP.

National Prostate Cancer Audit: Annual Report 2018

Health Quality Improvement Partnership | February 2019 | National Prostate Cancer Audit: Annual Report 2018

Health Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP) have published the results of their national prostate cancer audit in the report National Prostate Cancer Audit: Annual Report 2018.

There are over 40,000 new diagnoses of prostate cancer every year in the UK and over 11,000 men die because of the disease. This makes prostate cancer the second most common cause of cancer-related death for men in the UK.

Image source: hqip.org.uk

 

This report presents results for men diagnosed with prostate cancer between 1st April 2016 and 31st March 2017 in England and Wales. It reports on specific diagnostic, staging and treatment information as well as core performance indicators in order to compare diagnostic specialist MDTs or treatment centres. This is the first report which combines English and Welsh data as well as using patient-reported experience (PREMs) and outcome measures (PROMs) as performance indicators.

Reporting on a total of 14 performance indicators, the NPCA is the first national audit which is able to report on process and outcome measures from all aspects of the care pathway for men with prostate cancer (Source: HQIP).

Download it from HQIP

National Audit of Breast Cancer in Older Patients: 2018 Annual Report

HQIP | June 2018 | National Audit of Breast Cancer in Older Patients: 2018 Annual Report

Health Quality Improvement Programme (HQIP) has  produced a report which presents information on the care received by women diagnosed between 1 January 2014 and 31 December 2016 in England and Wales. As well as describing how these patterns of care differ between women in the younger and older age groups, the report also distinguishes between three main groups of breast cancer – women with ductal carcinoma in situ, with early invasive disease , and with advanced disease.

Image source: hqip.org.uk

The report is primarily written for clinicians, providers of breast cancer services, commissioners and healthcare regulators. A version for patients and the general public will be available in summer 2018 (Source: HQIP).

Further details are available from HQIP 

The report can be read in full here 

Brain tumour research: task and finish working group report

Department of Health and Social Care | 2018| Report of the Task and Finish
Working Group on Brain Tumour Research

The conclusions of the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) task and finish working group on brain tumour research have been published. The working group comprised clinicians, charities, a patient carer and officials to discuss how to increase the level and impact of research into brain tumours, removing barriers to research and how to generate high-quality research.  It is the first time that research funders have joined together to look at how this area can be developed (DHSC).

 

Following such a prolonged period of under-funding, the Working Group identified the  of fundable research applications currently being received as a principal issue,
which occurs for many reasons and needs to be tackled systematically.  Therefore, they focused on identifying opportunities for removing barriers and generating  additional high quality research applications. (DHSC)

The full report can be read here 

UK lung cancer survival rates are improving

7% rise in one-year survival for lung cancer patients | Royal College of Physicians.

Image source: http://www.hqip.org.uk/

The National Lung Cancer Audit annual report 2016, commissioned by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP), shows an encouraging rise in survival as more patients receive life-prolonging treatments.

The report covers patients with lung cancer first diagnosed in 2015. It says there was a 7% increase in the number of people diagnosed with lung cancer surviving for longer than one year – rising from 31% to 38% in the five-year period from 2010 to 2015.

In addition, 60% of lung cancer patients received anti-cancer treatment such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy or surgery, meeting the target set out in the 2015 annual audit report.

Full report: National Lung Cancer Audit annual report 2016