More than 500,000 people in England have waited over two months for cancer treatment in the past decade, according to an analysis by Radiotherapy UK. The figures, covering the ten years to November 2024, show that 506,335 patients experienced delays beyond the 62-day target. International research indicates that every four weeks of delay increases the risk of death by up to 10%.
The NHS has not met its 85% treatment target since December 2015, with only 69% of patients currently starting treatment within two months. Since November 2022, over one-third of all cancer patients have waited longer than the target. Disparities are stark: nearly half of gynaecological and lower gastrointestinal cancer patients, 42.3% of lung cancer patients, and 42.5% of urological cancer patients missed the 62-day target. Breast cancer fared better, but 28.4% still faced delays.
Professor Pat Price, chair of Radiotherapy UK, warned: “The last decade of leadership in cancer has normalised dangerous delays… These delays will cost thousands of lives.” She called for a “brave and bold cancer plan” to avoid further unnecessary deaths. Professor Mark Lawler of Queen’s University Belfast added: “Thousands more patients will die unnecessarily unless the cancer plan gets to grips with treatment delays urgently.”
Paula Chadwick of the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation described the findings as deeply concerning, noting that lung cancer is aggressive and delays could cause patients to “lose their lives far too soon.” Michelle Mitchell of Cancer Research UK urged the government to “renew its ambitions to diagnose more cancers earlier and offer every patient the best treatment.” Melanie Sturtevant of Breast Cancer Now said the delays leave patients “enduring agonising waits for the care they should be able to count on.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said the government is “going to transform cancer care, catapulting it into the modern day” through reforms across research, prevention, screening, diagnosis, and treatment. The government is set to relaunch its cancer plan on World Cancer Day, although experts have expressed concerns that it may not be sufficiently ambitious.
