Detecting cancer earlier – NAEDI

Professor Coleman speaks at the launch of NAEDI

Last Friday, several hundred delegates from a wide range of backgrounds – including research charities, Primary Care trusts, GPs, and the Cancer Networks – descended on Mary Ward House in London for the launch of the National Awareness and Early Diagnosis Initiative, or “NAEDI”.

NAEDI is a joint initiative, being led by Cancer Research UK and the Department of Health, to coordinate and provide support to activities that promote the earlier diagnosis of cancer.

So the launch was a fantastic chance for people interested or active in the field to come together and find out more about the Initiative and share best practice.

Speaking at the launch, Cancer Research UK’s Professor Michel Coleman showed that up to 11,000 lives could be saved in the UK every year if we raised our survival figures to match the best in Europe.

This is an important issue since most studies agree that late diagnosis is a key factor behind our lower survival rates. And one of the reasons people are diagnosed late with cancer is that they’re often unaware of the signs and symptoms of the disease.

We’ll be covering some of the talks and sessions in a bit more detail over the coming weeks, but for now here’s a recording of Professor Coleman speaking about his research at a press briefing. Click on the player to listen:

Link to download

Henry

Related posts:

• Spotting the ‘silent killer’
• Breast Unaware
• International survival trends