Treatment of prostate cancer lags behind other cancers
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《英国医生杂志》
British men with prostate cancer are still not getting the treatment they need, despite a recent drive to improve standards in cancer care, NHS chiefs have admitted.
Nigel Crisp, chief executive of the NHS, and Mike Richards, the national cancer director for England, appeared before the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee last week to update MPs on progress since the publication of the NHS cancer plan in 2000. The plan had promised more resources to tackle the disease.
The committee agreed that, in general, progress had been good. The Labour MP Gerry Steinberg said that The NHS Cancer Plan: A Progress Report, which Sir Nigel and Professor Richards had presented to the committee, was "the best report I抳e seen in the last six years." Virtually all cancer patients referred to a specialist by their GP are now seen within two weeks, and 89% of patients who receive a diagnosis of cancer are treated within a month.
But Professor Richards accepted that prostate cancer is "lagging behind other cancers" when it comes to treatment. The disease, which claims 10 000 lives every year, is now the second biggest cause of deaths from cancer in men.
Patients?levels of satisfaction with treatment are lower than for other cancers, the progress report indicates. And more than two thirds of patients with prostate cancer wait longer than two weeks to be seen by a specialist, compared with 37% for other cancers.
Shaun O扡eary, director of operations at the Prostate Cancer Charity, said that the reasons for these figures are complex. "Historically, when it comes to health, men have been less inclined to organise themselves into pressure groups. They seem to be less aware of the issues, and that is perhaps why we are not seeing the same improvement in prostate cancer treatment as we are in, say, the treatment of breast cancer."
Professor Richards reiterated his call for tighter restrictions on smoking, currently responsible for a third of all deaths from cancer. "I would support a complete ban on smoking in public places," he said. The committee agreed that not enough is being done to curb smoking, which was a particular problem among poorer people, who are also more likely to delay seeking treatment.
Both witnesses promised that the NHS would continue to strengthen coordination among the cancer networks and to expand the number of information centres in hospitals.
The expected increase in the number of specialist nurses would go some way towards improving the situation, said Sir Nigel. "In four years?time we expect to see figures for prostate cancer matching those of other conditions," he said.(Madeleine Brettingham)
Nigel Crisp, chief executive of the NHS, and Mike Richards, the national cancer director for England, appeared before the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee last week to update MPs on progress since the publication of the NHS cancer plan in 2000. The plan had promised more resources to tackle the disease.
The committee agreed that, in general, progress had been good. The Labour MP Gerry Steinberg said that The NHS Cancer Plan: A Progress Report, which Sir Nigel and Professor Richards had presented to the committee, was "the best report I抳e seen in the last six years." Virtually all cancer patients referred to a specialist by their GP are now seen within two weeks, and 89% of patients who receive a diagnosis of cancer are treated within a month.
But Professor Richards accepted that prostate cancer is "lagging behind other cancers" when it comes to treatment. The disease, which claims 10 000 lives every year, is now the second biggest cause of deaths from cancer in men.
Patients?levels of satisfaction with treatment are lower than for other cancers, the progress report indicates. And more than two thirds of patients with prostate cancer wait longer than two weeks to be seen by a specialist, compared with 37% for other cancers.
Shaun O扡eary, director of operations at the Prostate Cancer Charity, said that the reasons for these figures are complex. "Historically, when it comes to health, men have been less inclined to organise themselves into pressure groups. They seem to be less aware of the issues, and that is perhaps why we are not seeing the same improvement in prostate cancer treatment as we are in, say, the treatment of breast cancer."
Professor Richards reiterated his call for tighter restrictions on smoking, currently responsible for a third of all deaths from cancer. "I would support a complete ban on smoking in public places," he said. The committee agreed that not enough is being done to curb smoking, which was a particular problem among poorer people, who are also more likely to delay seeking treatment.
Both witnesses promised that the NHS would continue to strengthen coordination among the cancer networks and to expand the number of information centres in hospitals.
The expected increase in the number of specialist nurses would go some way towards improving the situation, said Sir Nigel. "In four years?time we expect to see figures for prostate cancer matching those of other conditions," he said.(Madeleine Brettingham)