At least a fifth of cancer patients suffered avoidable delays in diagnosis that could have harmed their chances of recovery, according to the first study of its kind. A quarter of patients waited more than three months to find out they had cancer as backlogs in getting test results, long waits for appointments and red tape prolonged diagnosis, the analysis by researchers at Public Health England found. Men with prostate cancer waited four times as long for a diagnosis as women with breast cancer. Britain’s cancer survival rates have long lagged behind the best in Europe and later diagnosis is thought to be one of the key reasons. Researchers carried out an audit of 17,000 patients, aiming to pinpoint why patients in Britain had to…

Source: The Times December 19, 2017 00:45 UTC