Cancer is the biggest health problem among the public, polls show

Two-thirds of the population say they are very or somewhat concerned about being told they have the disease – more than any other medical condition, including dementia and having a heart attack – according to polls.

The poll, conducted among 2,000 British adults by Public First on behalf of the University of Cambridge, highlights the concerns people have about a cancer diagnosis. It suggests that a late diagnosis – too late to treat their cancer – is the biggest concern when it comes to a cancer diagnosis (70%), followed by the impact on the family and those around them (52% ).

When asked what transformative development they would like to see in the future – including eradicating diseases like malaria, self-driving cars becoming commonplace, and genetically engineered crops allowing us to end famine – 55% of respondents chose for “being able to detect and treat famine” cancer early enough so that no one dies from the disease.” Only eradicating poverty came even close, with 23% of respondents.

The University of Cambridge and its partner Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH) are working to build the Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital, a revolutionary new type of hospital that promises to change the story of cancer.

The specialist cancer facility will bring world-class scientists within the walls of a new NHS hospital for the first time to detect cancer earlier and deliver personalized healthcare and precision cancer medicine to patients.

“Cancer affects one in two of us and understandably causes anxiety for patients and their families,” said Professor Richard Gilbertson, director of the university’s Cancer Research UK Cambridge Center and director of research at Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital. “People worry that treatments won’t work or that the side effects will be terrible, but also what their diagnosis will mean for their families.

“At Cambridge we believe it is possible to imagine a world where there is no longer any fear of cancer. It is an ambitious goal that we – together with many other researchers around the world – are working hard to achieve .”

When asked what worried them most about being diagnosed with cancer, the most common concern was that the cancer would be discovered too late to treat (70%). About 52% of respondents were concerned about the impact on their family or those around them, 41% about accessing the right treatment and 36% about the side effects of treatments.

When asked what would make them less afraid of being diagnosed with cancer, 61% said, “Knowing that the cancer I have is treatable.” More than half of respondents (51%) re-emphasized the importance of early detection, saying, “We know we are better at detecting cancer early enough to treat.”

“The outcomes can be completely transformed – better survival and less invasive treatments – if the cancer is diagnosed early enough,” says Professor Rebecca Fitzgerald, director of the Li Ka Shing Early Cancer Institute at the University of Cambridge.

“That’s why much of our focus now is on understanding cancer at its very earliest stages – years before an individual will develop symptoms. In this way it may even be possible to prevent the disease in the first place, or at least contract it.” when it can be easily treated.”

Knowing that many people – including organizations such as the University of Cambridge – are investigating how we can prevent, diagnose and treat cancer is reassuring, the poll shows.

A third of respondents (32%) said this would make them less fearful of a cancer diagnosis. And 43% of respondents believe that university cancer research will have a major impact on reducing cancer deaths (although perhaps unsurprisingly, 64% thought the biggest impact on reducing cancer deaths would come from shortening the of waiting times in the NHS).

Professor Deborah Prentice, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, said: “Cambridge is truly at the forefront of transforming our understanding of cancer and how we can prevent and treat it.

“This brilliant work will save and transform lives locally, nationally and around the world, from rapidly sequencing a tumor’s DNA to developing revolutionary new cancer drugs such as olaparib. It is cutting-edge work that makes me extremely proud.”

The audience was asked for their views on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to improve cancer diagnosis and treatment. An overwhelming majority were in favor of its use, while only 8% said we should not use AI for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. About 55% found it acceptable to use AI to speed up research into new treatments, 47% to help a doctor diagnose their cancer, and 41% to help their doctor decide which treatment would work best.

At the University of Cambridge, scientists are developing AI tools with the potential to transform cancer treatments by speeding diagnosis, personalizing therapy and reducing costs.

As part of this work, researchers are using AI to predict how patients will respond to a given treatment before they receive it, to allow them to start treatment earlier, to target hard-to-treat cancers and to enable screening of cancers that would currently occur. otherwise be unaffordable.

When faced with a number of adverse future events, a cancer diagnosis was second only to the death of a close family member as the most concerning thing (64% vs. 72%) – higher than nuclear war (56%) , terrorism (53%) and being a victim of a crime (52%).

Surprisingly, older age groups were significantly less likely to say they were “very concerned” about cancer compared to younger age groups: 14% of over-65s compared to 26% of 18-24 year olds and 29% of 25-year-olds 34 year olds.

The University of Cambridge is launching a month-long focus on its cancer research, including a look inside its new hospital, meeting researchers investigating the earliest stages of cancer, discovering how AI is helping in the fight against the disease, and meeting some of the patients who play a key role in groundbreaking cancer research.