This month the Less Survivable Cancers Taskforce (LSCT) welcomed the new Cancer Strategy for Scotland as a big step in the right direction for people diagnosed with a less survivable cancer.
The LSCT was invited to contribute to the strategy due to its expertise in the country’s deadliest cancers – those of the pancreas, lung, stomach, liver, brain and oesophagus – which, tragically, still have an average five-year survival rate of just 16% from diagnosis.
The new strategy acknowledges the fact that life expectancy for people diagnosed with some cancers is significantly lower than others and that lung cancer remains Scotland’s single biggest cause of cancer death. It gives a clear commitment to tackling those cancer types that have the poorest survival.
The Taskforce now hopes to see this put into action with significant investment in research and measures to improve less survivable cancer diagnostic and treatment services as an urgent priority.
Less survivable cancers are far more likely to be diagnosed in the later stages of the disease and this has a significant impact on treatment options, so early diagnosis will be a crucial aspect of the success of the strategy.
The LSCT will continue to work closely with the Scottish Government, patients and clinicians to ensure that action is taken to give people who are diagnosed with less survivable cancers a better chance of survival.
For more information about the LSCT’s work visit https://lesssurvivablecancers.org.uk