News
NHS detects tens of thousands of bowel cancers thanks to screening programme
Millions more people are now benefiting from lifesaving bowel screening compared to a decade ago, as the NHS urges even more people to get tested. Almost 7 million people have had bowel screening from the NHS during 2024/25, compared to around 4.7 million in 2014/15. Since bowel screening started 2 decades ago, the NHS has […]
March was busiest month ever for A&Es amid meningitis outbreak
A&E waiting times have fallen to a five-year low, despite the NHS seeing record numbers of patients in March as the health service experienced a ‘prolonged winter’. There were a record breaking 2.43 million total A&E attendances in March – 16,000 more than the previous record high in May 2024. Despite the bumper demand, almost […]
Women attending first NHS mammogram hits 10-year high as thousands more cancers found
Hundreds of thousands more women attended NHS breast screening last year and thousands more cancers were diagnosed early in England. New figures today show that in 2024/25, 1.94 million women aged 50 to 70 attended screening within six months of invitation – up nearly 200,000 (193,745) from 1.75 million the previous year. As a result, […]
NHS launches trailblazing AI and robot pilot to spot lung cancer sooner alongside screening programme set to tackle cancer inequalities
Patients facing suspected lung cancer could get answers sooner under a new NHS pilot using artificial intelligence and robotic technology to help doctors reach hard-to-detect cancers earlier, with fewer invasive tests. The new approach uses AI software to rapidly analyse lung scans and flag small lumps that are most likely to be cancerous, and a robotic camera is then used to […]
NHS to detect and prevent thousands more bowel cancers with more sensitive screening
Thousands of cases of bowel cancer will be diagnosed earlier or even prevented in England, as part of major NHS plans to increase the sensitivity of bowel cancer screening to save more lives. NHS England today announced it is to lower the threshold for a home-screening kit to trigger urgent cancer testing from next month, […]
Thousands at risk of inherited cancers to receive regular NHS checks through world-first genetics programme
Thousands of people at higher risk of developing cancer due to inherited faulty genes will be regularly checked and tracked by the NHS thanks to a first-of-its-kind national genetics programme. The world-first genetic register, developed by the NHS, will collect patient information on over 100 genes linked to an increased risk of cancer, with plans […]
NHS to offer thousands of men life-extending prostate cancer drug
Thousands of men with prostate cancer will be offered a life-extending drug on the NHS within weeks. For the first time patients whose prostate cancer has not spread will be able to receive the drug in England, known as abiraterone, as the health service widens access to the treatment. Around 2,000 men diagnosed with prostate […]
Personalised ‘living drug’ to offer “hope of cure” for aggressive leukaemia on NHS
Patients with an aggressive form of leukaemia will be able to receive a breakthrough immunotherapy on the NHS that saw over three quarters of patients go into remission in trials. The CAR T-cell therapy – known as ‘obe-cel’ – involves taking a patient’s immune cells and reprogramming them in a lab to identify and target […]
Hundreds more blood cancer patients to receive life-giving drug on NHS
Hundreds more people with an aggressive form of blood cancer can now be offered hope of a cure and “a new lease of life” from today thanks to an NHS drug rollout. Glofitamab (Columvi®) will now be offered to around 300 people a year with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) — a […]
NHS artificial intelligence (AI) trial to diagnose prostate cancer up to a month faster
The NHS will test an AI-powered ‘one-day diagnostics’ service for prostate cancer that could transform diagnosis and save some men up to a month of waiting. The new ‘one stop shop’ pilot, funded by NHS England, will use artificial intelligence to interpret MRI scans for men with suspected prostate cancer, helping spot lesions in a […]