Over 100,000 lives saved in West Midlands from advances in cancer treatment
106,000 lives have been saved over the past forty years
Cancer Research UK has found that 106,000 lives have been saved in the past forty years, across the West Midlands, because of developments in cancer research.
Since the mid-1980s, UK cancer death rates have fallen by around a quarter. If these rates had stayed the same, then 1.2 million more lives would have been lost to cancer, the charity said.
Progress in cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment have all contributed to the fall in cancer deaths.
This includes improvements in radiotherapy; the use of cancer screening programmes; steps taken to prevent cancer in the first place; drug developments and gene discoveries.
Dr Anisha Patel, used to be a GP in Birmingham and was diagnosed with bowel cancer aged 39. She has been in remission for the past five years.
She tells us how being a cancer survivor has helped her appreciate life more : " The most important thing for me was seeing both my kids finish primary school and start secondary school.
"When I was diagnosed, they were six and seven and I was going every six months for a scan, thinking am I going to see the next six months, is everything going to be okay. But actually seeing them get to that milestone has been so so emotional."
"You do live life differently after a diagnosis because you never know what will change from one scan to the next. You never really get used to it but you mange to live life more in the moment."
But Cancer Research UK said that despite the huge achievement, cancer deaths are still the number one cause of death in the UK.
And advances have not been equal across all cancers, it added.
The charity also raised concerns about the "enormous strain" facing both the NHS and the research sector.
"Thanks to research and progress, a huge number of people in the last 40 years have reached milestones in their lives they didn't think they'd see and had more invaluable time with their loved ones," said Cancer Research UK chief executive, Michelle Mitchell.
"The fact that over a million lives have been saved from cancer in this time reflects the power of research.
"Discoveries into more effective and kinder treatments, improvements to screening programmes, and strategies to help detect and prevent cancer have all been essential to this.
"These trends show that together, we are beating cancer - and we couldn't have made the breakthroughs that have changed people's lives without the generosity of the British public.
"However, despite these hard-fought gains, the situation for people affected by cancer across the UK remains worrying. Long waiting times are leaving many people facing fear and uncertainty.
"Cancer is a fixable problem, with continued investment in cancer research, strong political leadership, and the continued support of the public, we can build upon the fantastic progress from the last 40 years."