UK sees record number of people receiving cancer treatment last year

More than 320,000 people received cancer treatment in the UK over the past year, a new record in the country, the British health service said on Tuesday.

"Over 320,000 people received treatment for cancer over the last year (Nov 2021-Oct 2022)-the highest year on record, and up by more than 8,000 on the same period pre-pandemic," the National Health Service (NHS) said in a statement.

There were also more people than ever before who had potentially lifesaving NHS cancer checks, with over 2.8 million people seen, up by almost a fifth on the same period before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The NHS also said over 10,000 people were checked for cancer every day and around 6% resulted in a cancer diagnosis.

Dame Cally Palmer, national cancer director for NHS England, said the health service staff "have been working incredibly hard over the past year to recover from the pandemic."

She underscored the importance of early tests and checks and called on those who have potential symptoms and concerns to apply for cancer checks.