Londoners avoiding free cancer scans

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A cancer expert warned today that the number of people going for screenings in some parts of the capital is less than half the national average.

Professor John Toy, lead cancer clinician at Barts and The London NHS trust, said advances in treatment for breast, bowel and cervical cancer meant the disease no longer had to be a death sentence.

But improved survival rates were being overshadowed by the fact many people do not attend screening sessions by choice, or because of administration errors.

In some cases, appointment letters were being sent to old addresses, leaving patients unaware they should be having a test.

Cultural attitudes were also to blame for the fact some people took a "fatalistic" approach to cancer, said Professor Toy, who is medical director of Cancer Research UK: "There may be a cultural attitude that God has predetermined they will get the disease. We need to empower people so they understand it's not divine retribution but just an accident of biology." He added: "Every cancer we know about is better if you catch it early."

As many as 1,400 lives are saved each year through early screening for breast cancer. Women aged from 47 to 70 are eligible for breast checks. For cervical cancer, the age range is 25 to 64.

Patients whose cancers are detected early are much more likely to survive than those who ignore the signs until tumours are well advanced.

Bart's is one London hospital which is fast-tracking patients into new cancer treatments. But health experts are concerned about the poor take-up for screening in inner-city areas. Three quarters of people nationally have taken up offers of breast cancer tests but only 54 per cent of women in the catchment area around Barts and The London have gone for screening.

For bowel cancer screening, less than a third have gone for tests compared with 78 per cent nationwide.