By 2040, one person will be diagnosed with cancer every minute in Britain, a charity has warned.
The number of annual cancer diagnoses will increase by a fifth to 505,000 that year, compared to 420,000, or one every 75 seconds, currently, according to Cancer Research UK.
The analysis also found that deaths from the disease will increase by 18 percent, from 176,000 to 208,000.
Poor diets causing obesity rates to rise, and Britons smoking and drinking too much alcohol, are partly responsible for the spike, the charity said.
Michelle Mitchell, its chief executive, warned that Britain risks losing its reputation as a cancer “superpower” amid a £1 billion funding gap.
Your browser does not support iframes.
Analysis shows how many years of life an average cancer patient in Britain is expected to lose
There are currently 419,935 cases of cancer in Britain every year, the charity estimates. But it expects this figure to rise to 505,565 by 2040.
Cancer Research UK said the number of deaths from the disease will also rise, from 176,376 now to 208,022 by 2040.
However, the report states that 14,500 cases of cancer could be prevented over the next 17 years if the government meets its smoke-free targets among the over-40s and 50s, meaning five percent or less smokers by 2030.
A 10 percent reduction would also be needed in the proportion of heavy and very heavy drinkers, as well as in obesity rates, it added.
Experts have warned that the dire state of NHS cancer services – which have repeatedly failed to meet critical performance targets – is worsening the crisis.
Cancer care was effectively halted for some patients when the pandemic first reached British shores, with appointments canceled and diagnostic scans postponed due to the government's commitment to protecting the NHS.
Experts estimate that 40,000 cases of cancer went undiagnosed in the first year of the pandemic alone.
NHS cancer services are also repeatedly failing to meet their targets.
Official data from health services for October on cancer waiting times shows that only seven in ten (71 percent) of patients urgently referred for suspected cancer were diagnosed or ruled out with cancer within 28 days. The goal is 75 percent.
Only 89.4 percent wait a month or less before starting their first cancer treatment after deciding to proceed with surgery, chemotherapy or radiotherapy. The target is 96 percent, but this has never been achieved.
Less than two-thirds (63.1 percent) of patients started their first cancer treatment within two months of an urgent referral. According to NHS guidelines, 85 percent of cancer patients should be treated within this time frame. But this goal was never achieved.
Ms Mitchell warned that investment in detecting and treating the disease cannot keep pace with the increasing burden it poses.
She said The times that Britain invests relatively less in cancer research than the US, which, together with the impact of Brexit and the disruption of clinical trials, makes it difficult to attract top scientists to Britain.
She said: 'We are at a turning point. There are worrying signs on the horizon. And now is the time to take action to maintain a global leadership position for decades to come.”
While the level of progress in cancer survival has been rapid in some forms of the disease, such as breast and prostate cancer, others, such as lung and pancreas, have improved only at a snail's pace.
Ten-year survival rates for common cancers have now topped 50 percent, and experts say further improvements can be made in the coming decade.
A report from Cancer Research UK warned in November that there will be a £1 billion funding gap for cancer research over the next decade.
Charities funded around two-thirds of government-funded cancer research in 2019, amounting to around £400 million.
Dr. Owen Jackson, director of policy at Cancer Research, said its spending is now “going less far” due to inflation and it is receiving fewer donations from the public, which is struggling with the cost of living.
Ms Mitchell told the newspaper: 'The public are watching very closely to see if there is a clear strategy, robust leadership, a good plan with some funding to ensure we are world leading and not lagging behind the global market. cancer survival.
“It's not good enough at the moment.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: 'Research and the life sciences are crucial in the fight against cancer, which is why we are investing £1 billion a year through the National Institute for Health and Care Research.
'We have also signed new partnerships with BioNTech and Moderna, meaning patients in the NHS can be the first in the world to benefit from potential cancer vaccines.'