42% of people in the UK will get cancer, says a leading UK health charity that also concludes while people are living longer with cancer, they are not necessarily living well, and this will place a massive burden on the NHS.

Macmillan Cancer Support says it is not just because people are living longer, but poor diet and lack of exercise are also the reason why 42% of people who die in the UK will have had a cancer diagnosis at some point in their lives. Also, for 64% of them, it will be cancer that causes their death.

As treatments improve, more and more people are living with cancer. In the UK, the number of people living with cancer has gone up from 1.5 million ten years ago to 2 million in 2008, says the charity, referring to published projections and mortality rates.

Their Chief Executive Ciarán Devane told the media that:

“It is really alarming that the number of people who will get cancer is now well past one in three, and that there are so many more people with cancer today than even ten years ago.”

However, many survivors have ongoing long term health problems, and this means the NHS has a “massive challenge ahead”, says the charity.

Devane said the number of people living with cancer in the UK will double from the current two million to four million over the next 20 years, and yet “no one thinks the country can afford to double its spending on cancer,” so we have “therefore got to become twice as effective in how we spend that money”.

To illustrate what happens once cancer patients leave hospital the charity estimates what colorectal cancer patients who survive for five to ten years after their diagnosis might expect:

  • 64% will have a chronic health problem.

  • 42% will have an ongoing health problem like cardiovascular and intestinal illnesses.

  • 22% will have advanced cancers, including secondary cancer, metastatic cancer, and secondary primary tumours.

  • While only 36% will escape ongoing health problems linked to their cancer treatment.

The new data shows in more detail than ever before, that cancer patients are having health problems that need support lasting several years after initial diagnosis and treatment.

“The NHS really needs to recognise cancer’s long term impact on people’s lives, to plan better services and to develop more personalised care,” said Devane.

“We need services which keep people well and at home, not services which sort the problem when people arrive at A&E,” he urged.

Dr Clare Gerada, the chair of the Royal College of GPs, agreed, and said the new figures show the growing impact that cancer is having on people’s lives.

She told the BBC that as this study shows, it’s not just cancer survival that matters:

“All healthcare professionals have a duty to see that patients receive the best possible care, and aftercare, following a diagnosis of cancer, and to ensure their patients are not just living, but living well,” said Gerada.

Macmillan drew on a number of studies published in leading journals like the British Journal of Cancer and sources of national statistics such as the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and national cancer registries.

Source: Macmillan Cancer Support, BBC News.

Written by: Catharine Paddock, PhD