Cancer death rates have dropped to their lowest level on record but continued action on prevention is key to keep progress from stalling, Cancer Research UK (CRUK) has warned.

New figures from the charity reveal that 247 in every 100,000 people in the UK died from cancer each year between 2002 and 2024 – the lowest rate since records began in 1971.

This is a 29% drop in cancer mortality rates from the peak of 355 in every 100,000 people in 1989, CRUK said, noting that this ‘remarkable progress’ had been the result of major breakthroughs in prevention, diagnosis and treatment, made possible by a ‘golden age’ of cancer research.

The charity also said that policy action to tackle preventable risk factors, including smoking and screening programmes for breast, bowel and cervical cancers, had contributed to falling death rates.

However, action is needed to ‘back life-saving innovation’ and stop the UK falling behind, CRUK warned.

Dr Sam Godfrey, the charity’s science engagement lead, said the findings ‘represent decades of crucial scientific breakthroughs – from vaccines that prevent cancer to kinder, more targeted treatments’ and he highlighted the UK’s position as a global leader in cancer research but added that ‘we can’t take progress for granted’.

He said: ‘It’s essential that the Government makes it easier and faster to set up clinical trials, as well as providing NHS staff with the time and space to carry out life-saving research.’

Prioritising cancer research

The Government’s flagship National Cancer Plan, published last month, committed the NHS to meeting key cancer waiting time standards and promised patients faster diagnosis, quicker treatment and more support to live well.

By March 2029, the NHS will have to meet targets of: 85% of cancer patients starting treatment within 62 days of referral; 96% of patients starting treatment within 31 days of a decision to treat; and 80% of patients receiving a diagnosis or all-clear within 28 days of an urgent suspected cancer referral.

CRUK said the cancer plan was an ‘important step’ towards improving cancer outcomes in England, but further action was needed to secure the UK’s status as a world-leader in cancer research, with clinical trials slower to start in the UK compared to the US, Australia and Spain.

The charity is therefore calling for a single, joined-up system for setting up trials across the NHS to cut unnecessary red tape and speeding up approvals, as well as action to prioritise research within the health service, including through increasing the time staff can dedicate for research and innovation.

Meanwhile, England’s chief medical officer Sir Chris Whitty told a recent Medical Journalists’ Association event that rates of some cancers ‘have gone way down’, such as those caused by HPV and stomach cancer, but the ‘least treatable’ forms, such as lung and pancreatic cancers show less promising statistics.

Professor Whitty said he hoped the Tobacco and Vapes Bill will help address the fact that lung cancer is very preventable due to it being primarily driven by smoking.

A version of this article was originally published by our sister publication Healthcare Leader.