Faster diagnosis and treatment for cancer patients
Cancer patients are set to benefit from faster diagnosis, quicker access to treatment and more personalised care.
The new NHS National Cancer Plan is a bold 10-year strategy to modernise cancer services across England, with a commitment that from 2035 onwards three in four people diagnosed with cancer will be cancer free or living well five years after diagnosis. This ambition is expected to save 320,000 additional lives and builds upon the progress we’re already making locally to see, diagnose and treat people quickly.
The plan sets out major reforms including expanded robot assisted surgery, faster access to diagnostics through £2.3 billion of national investment, greater use of genomic testing, and strengthened pathways for people with rarer cancers. Community diagnostic centres will increasingly operate 12 hours a day, seven days a week, helping to tackle waiting times and speed up the route to diagnosis.
We’re already delivering much of what the new plan is calling for, we continue to meet the 28-day Faster Diagnosis Standard, and people’s experiences of our cancer services have also been consistently rated as good; for the third year in a row.
We continue to be a national leader in cancer research and are one of the highest recruiters to cancer trials in the UK, giving local people the chance to access world leading treatments close to home. We’re proud to have recruited the first UK patient to the XRAY VISION head and neck cancer study and the only NHS trust in the South West to take part in the BioNTech cancer vaccine launchpad personalised cancer vaccine trial.
We’re proud that we’re at the forefront of the national ambition to deliver earlier diagnosis, faster access and more personalised cancer care for everyone in our community who needs our care.
Torbay scores a UK first for major clinical breast cancer research study
Women in Torbay and South Devon who are being treated for breast cancer are taking part in a major new clinical research study to improve future treatment for thousands of people a year.
Torbay Hospital has been selected as the first site in the UK to take part in the Trans-EndoNET study to investigate if insulin levels influence how women respond to breast cancer treatment.
Estrogen Receptor-Positive, HER2-Negative (ER+HER2-) is the most common form of breast cancer and accounts for about 70% of cases, particularly among post-menopausal women where the hormone oestrogen helps the cancer to grow. Medicines called aromatase inhibitors help lower the amount of oestrogen in the body.
Researchers now want to understand the relationship between insulin and hormone therapies and to see if lower insulin levels are linked with a better response to these important treatments.
We’re one of the highest recruiters to cancer trials nationally and patients who are being treated for breast cancer will now be offered the opportunity to take part in the research.
Consultant Oncoplastic and Reconstructive Surgeon Louise Merker, who works at Torbay Hospital, is leading the research study. She said: “We are proud to be selected as the first site in the UK to take part in this important clinical trial, which will bring huge benefits to women in our community and the country.
“We are excited to offer our patients the opportunity to take part in this unique and meaningful research. Clinical research is an area where we really punch above our weight, and this important research trial has the potential to save and prolong the lives of our mothers, daughters, sisters, aunties and friends from this type of breast cancer in the future.”
The research study is being led by the University of Oxford and has been funded by a partnership between the UKRI Medical Research Council (MRC) and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).