Exactly a year ago today, the UK Government launched a nationwide call to help shape a new cancer plan for England. Today, that plan has been published.  

This marks an important moment. We’ve been calling for an ambitious, long term cancer strategy that delivers for patients for more than half a decade. 

It was central to our calls to this government at the 2024 general election, and since then, alongside over 35,000 supporters and charities across the One Cancer Voice coalition, we’ve been campaigning for the National Cancer Plan to be the turning point for cancer that patients deserve.  

With the plan now here, the important question is – will it be that turning point for cancer? 

What are the headlines?

It’s a ten-year strategy covering cancer prevention, diagnosis, treatment, care and research. At its heart is the ambition for 75% of people diagnosed with cancer to survive for five years or more by 2035.   

Outcomes in England have lagged behind comparable countries for decades, so it’s positive to see improving cancer survival at the centre of the plan. But it’s going to be tough to achieve and will require much faster progress. 

On commitments that could move us toward that ambition, there’s much to welcome.  

We’re pleased to see several of our priorities reflected in the plan, including the full rollout of lung screening by 2030, a renewed commitment to earlier diagnosis and meeting all cancer waiting times targets by 2029. 

But there’s still lots of detail missing on how commitments will be implemented, where responsibilities will sit and whether bold promises will be matched with the resources required. All this means that the next vital next step for government will be translating the plan into delivery.  

But beyond the headlines, there’s a lot more in this plan to unpack – so let’s get into it.  

A new cancer guarantee  

Timely diagnosis and treatment is incredibly important to patient experience and outcomes. England’s very first cancer plan in 2000 introduced cancer waiting times targets, and they remain a cornerstone of quality cancer care. With key cancer waiting time targets missed for over a decade, we called for a new ‘cancer guarantee’ – for all targets to be met by the end of this parliament.  

The National Cancer Plan has affirmed a welcome political commitment to achieving this goal.  

To get there, the plan promises to drive up productivity, make best use of investment in expanded NHS diagnostic capacity, and target funding for Cancer Alliances to support providers to improve performance.  

But even taken together, these actions will only get us so far. Meeting these targets will likely require more investment to increase NHS capacity. 

A renewed commitment to earlier diagnosis 

The plan includes the renewed commitment to earlier diagnosis that we’ve been calling for. Earlier diagnosis is central to improving survival, and the plan sets a challenging ambition to see three in four people diagnosed at earlier stages (stage 1 or 2) – when treatment is more likely to be successful – by 2035.  

Positively, the plan also commits to a range of early diagnosis metrics meant to mitigate the risk of diagnosing cancers that didn’t need to found, and focus attention on cancers diagnosed in emergency departments, which are associated with much poorer outcomes. We’ve called for these extra metrics to be included, and you can read more about this here. 

Commitments like the full rollout out of lung screening by 2030 and increasing the sensitivity of the test used in bowel screening by 2028 are very welcome and will be important to making progress on earlier diagnosis. Targeting funding to address local barriers could help narrow inequalities in earlier diagnosis too.  

The plan highlights innovations, like AI tools and liquid biopsy tests, which could hold real potential. But before they’re introduced, they must be robustly tested so that only safe and effective innovations reach patients and those that don’t work can be dropped. 

While innovation is important, efforts towards earlier diagnosis cannot miss the basics. For example, with over 6 in 10 patients beginning their cancer journey at the GP, it’s important to ensure NICE cancer referral guidelines stay up to date with the best evidence. It’s disappointing that the plan does not include a commitment to this. 

Tackling inequalities in access to optimal treatment  

Across England, people face unequal access to the best cancer treatment. We see slow rollout of cutting-edge treatments in some areas, and inconsistent use of best practice. 

So, it’s positive that the plan emphasises the importance of fair access to high-quality cancer treatment, and highlights the important role of audit and quality improvement programmes like the National Cancer Audits. However, we need to see more detail on how DHSC and NHSE will turn insights from these programmes into actions to reduce the unwarranted variation we see today. 

New cancer manuals – which will set out what good care looks like for each cancer type – could help by supporting NHS organisations to ensure they’re providing the best possible service based on clear, robust quality standards. 

But developing these will be a massive task. More detail is needed on how they will be developed and what mechanisms will ensure that the quality standards are embedded across cancer pathways.   

Building a research powered health service 

There is a clear and proactive approach to national leadership in cancer research throughout the plan, with clear strategic priorities which align closely with research challenges that we’ve long highlighted. By addressing these, the government will be in a better place to coordinate investment and set direction across the research system.  

The Cancer Trials Accelerator Programme represents a positive development, with the potential to speed up and improve the delivery of clinical trials. However, around 90% of patients are recruited to non-commercial studies, and the plan lacks assurance that these important trials will not be left behind. This is a concern.

Reducing the biggest cancer risk factors 

Tobacco, overweight and obesity, alcohol and UV exposure still cause many cancers that could be prevented.  

It’s good to see the plan highlights this government’s continued commitment to the Tobacco & Vapes Bill. It’s also positive to see action to strengthen protections on sunbed use and measures to drive HPV vaccination uptake, particularly in underserved groups. 

However, the National Cancer Plan could have gone further. 

More action is needed to drive the shift from sickness to prevention. There’s still more to do to help millions of people quit smoking and prevent overweight and obesity in the first place. Tightening regulation on alcohol, through introducing minimum unit pricing as implemented in Scotland and Wales, was also a missed opportunity.  

Improving children’s and young people’s cancer care 

It’s positive to see the much-needed focus on core issues facing children and young people with cancer. 

A dedicated approach to research into children’s and young people’s cancers and the development of less toxic, more effective treatments is critical to improving outcomes. It’s why in 2024/25 we spent nearly £26m on research specific to children’s and young people’s cancers. And why our £37m C-Further partnership with LifeArc and Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity is helping to create targeted medicines, bridging the gap between the lab and young patients.  

So, we strongly welcome children’s and young people’s cancer research being a priority area for government. We also support efforts to address the barriers to clinical trials, including the requirement for medical justifications for age limits on clinical trials – a step we’ve already taken in our research – and for improved data collection.  

Making the National Cancer Plan a reality 

The theme of this year’s World Cancer Day is ‘United by Unique,’ which is about centring the unique experiences of every person affected by cancer. 

A cancer strategy can feel distant from that individual experience. But many important commitments have been made by the government today, and if they make good on these, the experiences and outcomes of people affected by cancer could genuinely be transformed by 2035. 

However, publishing this plan is just the first step, and there’s a long way to go to make this plan a reality. It will require a continued and persistent focus on delivery. 

The plan lays some of the groundwork. It rightly sets ultimate responsibility at the Secretary of State’s door, states that a National Cancer Board will have national oversight of the plan’s delivery and commits to annual progress reports and a year 3 review.  

But this is not enough.  

To deliver this plan the whole NHS and research system will need to play their part. So, we must see robust implementation planning that clearly sets out in more detail than the plan offers who is responsible for delivering each part of the plan and by when. 

And we must acknowledge that limited funding could significantly impact the potential for progress on this plan. Whilst some funding has been confirmed for Cancer Alliances, little else has been said. The government will need to consider what the system realistically needs to deliver on what it has promised.  

Going back to where we started – is this a turning point for cancer?  

Well, it could be, and it’s certainly a first step. Now, it’s time for government to get on with delivering this plan. We’ll be there to support them, and hold them to account, on behalf of everyone affected by cancer.