On 20th April, Susie went to Westminster and attended a parliamentary reception organised by Cancer52, a coalition of more than 80 charities representing rare and less common cancers. The reception was hosted and addressed by Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Cancer (APPGC), John Baron MP.
The purpose of the reception was to raise awareness of these cancers and highlight the need for earlier diagnosis.
Rare and less common cancers together account for more than half of all UK cancer deaths – more than the ‘big four’ (breast, prostate, lung and bowel cancer together) – and on average have poorer earlier diagnosis rates.
Susie was invited as a member of our support group as Pseudomyxoma Survivor is a member charity of Cancer52. Unfortunately, Susie’s MP wasn’t at the event where MPs were briefed on the number of people diagnosed with rare and less common cancers in their area.
Jane Lyons, CEO of Cancer52, said, “It was fantastic to see so many people affected by rare and less common cancers at the reception raising awareness of these diseases with their MPs. For many the speed of diagnosis is critical as rare and less common cancers are more likely than the common cancers to be diagnosed late, often in A&E, and this has an impact on one year survival rates.”
Susie said, “It was a pleasure to join Cancer52 at their reception and discuss such an important issue. We need to be doing far better at diagnosing and treating cancers earlier, particularly rare and less common cancers.”
There’ll be more from Susie about the event in our next newsletter.
- For more information about Cancer52 please visit: http://www.cancer52.org.uk/.
- The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Cancer is the voice of the cancer community in Parliament, raising cancer at every opportunity, including on the Floor of the House and in meetings with Ministers and others.
- The Cancer Strategy (Achieving world-class cancer outcomes: a strategy for England 2015-2020) was published in July 2015