Cancers being detected earlier, NHS figures show

A quarter of patients found to have breast, colorectal or lung cancer in 2017-2018 were diagnosed at the earliest stage (stage one).

The number of people diagnosed at the earliest stage of bowel, breast and lung cancer has increased in the last eight years, new figures show.

One in four (25.5 per cent) of the 24,786 patients found to have breast, colorectal or lung cancer in 2017-2018 were diagnosed at the earliest stage (stage one).

This is a 9.4 per cent relative increase from the baseline percentage of 23.3 per cent, with the baseline based on combined figures from 2010-2011.

Data from NHS National Services Scotland showed people living in the most deprived areas are less likely to be diagnosed at an earlier stage than those from least deprived areas.

For people with breast, colorectal or lung cancer in the most deprived areas, 22.6 per cent were diagnosed at stage one between January 1 2017 and December 31 2018, compared with 29.1 per cent in the least deprived areas.