Cancer campaign helps to save lives

A cancer campaign has helped to find an additional 21 local people that have cancer, compared to last year’s figures.

The ‘Don’t be a Cancer Chancer’ campaign was conducted by NHS Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale (NHS HMR) and Rochdale Borough Council last May, to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of breast, bowel and lung cancer, and to encourage people that have symptoms to go and see their GP as soon as possible. This is because the chances of surviving cancer are considerably higher when it is found early:

• For bowel cancer, you are almost twice as likely to be cured if it is spotted early.
• For lung cancer, you are three times as likely to be cured if caught before the cancer spreads.
• 95% of breast cancer patients are cured if their cancer is spotted early and has not spread.

An evaluation has shown that the campaign has had a big impact. Compared to the same five month period in 2008, the number of people being referred to hospital in 2009 with suspected lung cancer increased by 59 percent and 18 more people were found to have lung cancer. The campaign also increased referrals for bowel cancer by 22 percent and helped to find three more people with bowel cancer, compared to the number of cases that were found during the same period the previous year. However, it did highlight that more work needs to be done to encourage women to look for symptoms of breast cancer and go to their doctor with any suspicions.

The people of Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale suffer some of the highest death rates from cancer in the country. Lung cancer is one of the borough’s biggest killers, with 134 dying from the disease in 2007. In the same year bowel cancer claimed 48 lives and 40 women died from breast cancer.

This is what makes raising awareness of the signs and symptoms of cancer so important, according to Helen Skidmore, Social Marketing Manager for NHS HMR, who led the campaign: “Cancer continues to be an increasing problem within the borough but people are still scared to go and see their GP about it. Breast, bowel and lung cancer can all be treated successfully if they are caught early enough. That’s why a campaign like Cancer Chancer is so important to try and break down the fear surrounding cancer, make more people come forward and educate them about what signs they need to look out for.”

Cancer Chancer was first instigated by The Manchester Versus Cancer Alliance, a partnership between The Christie and NHS, Councils and supporters.