Cole-Hamilton comments on drops in cancer survival

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP has said that Scotland deserves a government that will “move mountains for cancer patients”, following a drop in the survival rates for certain types of cancer.

New figures published today show:

• The one-year survival rate for leukaemias dropped from 77.9% to 75.4% between 2013-17 and 2018-22
• The one-year survival rate for head and neck cancer fell from 75.2% to 72.6% between 2013-17 and 2018-22
• The five-year survival rate for leukaemias decreased from 61.9% to 57.5% between 2013-17 and 2018-22
• The five-year survival rate for men diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphomas dropped from 68.0% to 64.1%
• A huge range in survival rates for the period 2018-22, varying from 23.1% for pancreatic cancer to 97.9% for testicular cancer

The Scottish Government's standard states that 95% of eligible patients should wait no longer than 62 days from urgent suspicion of cancer referral to first cancer treatment.

This target has never been met since it was introduced in 2012.

Alex Cole-Hamilton said:

“It is alarming to see a drop in survival rates for certain types of cancer.

“Much more needs to be done to improve care, but all we have seen is an SNP government never once meeting a key cancer waiting times target in the fourteen years since it was introduced.

“Scotland deserves a government that will move mountains for cancer patients.

“To boost survival rates, Scottish Liberal Democrats would cut waiting times, detect and treat cancer early and roll out a new national lung cancer screening programme capable of saving hundreds of lives a year. We would also enable US scientists to finish their cancer research here, instead of letting Trump cancel all their good work.”