Government targets cancer

About a third of people will develop cancer in their lifetime and a quarter of them will die.

Last year, more than 4,000 people in East and West Sussex died from various forms of the disease.

The most common causes of cancer deaths in men are lung, prostate and colorectal cancer and in women they are breast, lung, colorectal and ovarian.

Yesterday, Health Secretary Alan Milburn announced the latest in the long-running battle to tackle the disease and bring the fatality figures down. He has pledged to spend £87 million on improving cancer services across the country, with particular emphasis on tackling stomach cancer.

A proactive campaign to raise awareness and early detection of the disease is one of several schemes running throughout the county trying to beat the disease.

Other methods include a trial three-year pilot project run from the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton expanding the age limit for regular breast screenings from 64 to 69.

The scheme was so successful in catching cancer at an early stage the Government is now planning to increase the age limit to 70 nationally.

Moves like this are ensuring that deaths from cancer are on the decrease in Sussex but health officials say there is no room for complacency and the continuing prevention and treatment of cancer remains a significant challenge.

The Sussex-wide target is to get GP referred patients seen within two weeks and to cut the death rate from cancer in people aged under 75 years by at least a fifth between 1997 and 2010.

Both West Sussex Health Authority and East Sussex, Brighton and Hove Health Authority are also backing a new national campaign launched by the Cancer Research Fund to encourage people to give up smoking and reduce the incidents of lung cancer.

The latest news is another boost in the fight against cancer after a £7 million refurbishment of the Sussex Oncology Centre at Royal Sussex was announced last year.

The plans include the installation of three £1 million linear accelerators. These are X-ray machines which direct radioactive beams into deep-rooted tumours.

Dr George Deutsch, lead consultant at the centre, said: I am delighted to see the continued development of more modern cancer services.

"This funding will help ensure we can provide the most up-to-date treatment at the centre and further enhance the environment for our patients."

The layout of the extended oncology centre has been designed to offer patients a more user friendly environment.

Rather than undressing behind screens, they will have individual rooms to change in before examination by consultants.

The most important thing to do is cut down on waiting times for treatment and the funding will go towards this.

The Brighton-based Sussex Cancer Network has also welcomed news of extra funding.

Angi Mariani, cancer information manager, said: "The Sussex Cancer Network welcomes the boost from the Government for improving cancer services.

"Both East Sussex, Brighton and Hove Health Authority and West Sussex Health Authority are working together with the NHS trusts, Brighton Health Care, Worthing Hospitals, Mid Sussex, Eastbourne Hospitals and Hastings & Rother, to improve the waiting times for cancer patients in the area.

"Staff are committed to improving the quality of care and the waiting times for all the cancers, including cancers of the stomach, pancreas and oesophagus, as well as the more common cancers of breast, colorectal, lung and urology.

"All the trusts in the Sussex Cancer Network are already making improvements in meeting the two-week wait from GP referral to first outpatient appointment and are investigating in more detail the waiting times from diagnosis to treatment."

The Government's £87 million will be allocated over the next four years and will be targeted at cancers of the stomach, pancreas and oesophagus.

The cash will be spent on reducing the 18,000 deaths a year nationally from these cancers by developing more specialist services.

The new funding coincided with the publication of a report which outlined new ways of organising cancer care services.

The report, drawn up by doctors, nurses and managers in a year-long study, suggested ways of improving waiting times and results in cancer care.

Professor Gordon McVie, director general of the Cancer Research Campaign, welcomed the extra funds for stomach cancer treatment.

But he said the report would reveal some "shockingly long" waits for treatment in cancer care generally.

He said: "In some cases, the time between diagnosis and treatment has taken six months.

"Things will not get dramatically better until 600 new cancer consultants appear, 600 new nurses, we need new pathologists, radiologists, we are grossly under-resourced after years and years of starvation in cancer care.

Farhang Tahzib, consultant in Public Health Medicine at West Sussex Health Authority, said: "We are delighted to learn that extra funds are available for cancer services.

"Cancer is the single most common cause of death in West Sussex and these monies are essential for improving cancer services locally.

"There are urgent needs to modernise and improve cancer services to provide equal access to best treatments for all.

"The new monies will be used to develop the cancer networks to provide high quality modern services, funding of new cancer drugs and ensuring that services are focused around the patient and their needs.

"The health authority and all its partners are committed to improving cancer services and the new monies will certainly assist in moving ahead with this essential task."

Mr Milburn said: "Decades of neglect left NHS cancer and heart services short of the investment they need.

"Now that failure to invest is being reversed."

At the Labour Party conference in Brighton last year Mr Milburn promised that waiting times for all cancer treatment would be slashed to just one month by 2005 as part of the three-year NHS Cancer Plan.