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Ten ‘one-stop shop’ cancer diagnosis centres planned for England

England is to get specialist cancer diagnosis centres, which aim to more quickly diagnose people who have non-specific symptoms like weight loss and fatigue

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Ten centres offering a one-stop shop for spotting cancer are to be . The aim is to provide rapid testing for multiple cancers, cutting the often lengthy wait for diagnosis.

The UK currently lags behind other western European countries and nations such as Australia and Canada in terms of cancer survival. This is at least partly due to delays in diagnosis and treatment.

Around half of people with cancer have vague or non-specific symptoms, such as loss of appetite or weight. As a result, they can end up being referred to several specialists before receiving a diagnosis. The new centres will aim to test for multiple cancers at the same time, providing people with a diagnosis or the all-clear within two weeks.

Similar centres exist in Denmark. People are typically referred with symptoms like weight loss, fatigue, pain and nausea. found that 16 per cent of those referred by their doctors received a cancer diagnosis, most commonly of lung cancer.

Read more: Our cancer strategies aren’t working – it’s time to change that

This article appeared in print under the headline “Cancer diagnosis centres”

Topics: Cancer / Nhs