Early Diagnosis Data Hub


Use this data hub to explore the latest cancer early diagnosis data across the UK.


See our other cancer statistics on screening, diagnosis, incidence, survival and mortality


Produced by the Cancer Intelligence Team at Cancer Research UK.


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You are welcome to reuse this Cancer Research UK produced content for your own work. Please remember to acknowledge the data sources for each chart. If you have any questions regarding the data or the interpretation of these data, please contact Cancer Intelligence (please allow 10 working days for a response).


Proportion Diagnosed by Stage (stacked chart)

Last reviewed: April 2024

The proportion of cancers diagnosed at each stage varies by cancer type. The stage distribution for each cancer type will reflect many factors including how the cancer type develops, the way symptoms appear, public awareness of symptoms, how quickly a person goes to see their doctor and how quickly the cancer is recognised and diagnosed by a doctor. It might also relate to whether a national screening programme that can detect early stage disease exists for that cancer type, along with the extent of uptake of that programme.

Download data

Notes:

Cancer sites are ordered from the highest to lowest proportion diagnosed at stage I and II combined.

England

  • Although data is available up to 2021, data for 2018 is displayed as the default as this is the last year which followed trends that we would expect to see in a typical year. Staging data for 2019 has issues with completeness therefore also not appropriate to use as a typical year.
  • Cancers that have been staged in an alternate system (Binet; ISS; Chang; INRGSS; NWTS) and cannot be mapped to TNM, have been included as two separate categories: ‘Other - Early’ and ‘Other - Advanced’, which can be mapped onto Stages I & II and III & IV, respectively.

Scotland

  • We present annual average data, whereas the original data source (see 'Sources' pane below) presents sum of two years' data.
  • Although data is available up to 2021-2022, data for 2018-2019 is displayed as the default as this is the last year which followed trends that we would expect to see in a typical year.

Wales
  • Although data is available up to 2020, data for 2019 is displayed as the default as this is the last year which followed trends that we would expect to see in a typical year.

Northern Ireland

  • Data is presented as an annual average for a five year period.
  • Although data is available up to 2016-2020, data for 2015-2019 is displayed as the default as this is the last year which followed trends that we would expect to see in a typical year.
  • Testicular cancer Stage 3 represents stages 3 & 4 (due to data availability).
  • For 2016-2020, gallbladder Stage 1 represents stages 1 & 2 (due to data availability).



Data sources:

Data on the stage at diagnosis is not yet routinely available for the UK as a whole due to inconsistencies in the collecting and reporting of staging data across the UK.

Proportion and Number of Cases Diagnosed at Stage IV (bubble chart)

Last reviewed: April 2024

The proportion of cancers diagnosed at each stage varies by cancer type. The stage distribution for each cancer type will reflect many factors including how the cancer type develops, the way symptoms appear, public awareness of symptoms, how quickly a person goes to see their doctor and how quickly the cancer is recognised and diagnosed by a doctor. It might also relate to whether a national screening programme that can detect early stage disease exists for that cancer type, along with the extent of uptake of that programme.

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Data sources:

Data on the stage at diagnosis is not yet routinely available for the UK as a whole due to inconsistencies in the collecting and reporting of staging data across the UK.

Incidence by Stage Over Time (line chart)

Last reviewed: April 2024
Download data

Notes:

Time trend data are not available for Northern Ireland.

England: Cancers that have been staged in an alternate system (Binet; ISS; Chang; INRGSS; NWTS) and cannot be mapped to TNM, have been included as two separate categories: ‘Other - Early’ and ‘Other - Advanced’, which can be mapped onto Stages I & II and III & IV, respectively.

Scotland: We present annual average data, whereas the original data source (see 'Sources' pane below) presents sum of two years' data.

Northern Ireland:

  • Data is presented as an annual average for a five year period.
  • Testicular cancer Stage 3 represents stages 3 & 4 (due to data availability).



Data sources:

Data on the stage at diagnosis is not yet routinely available for the UK as a whole due to inconsistencies in the collecting and reporting of staging data across the UK.

Statement Generator

Last reviewed: April 2024

Notes:

England

  • Although data is available up to 2021, data for 2018 is displayed as the default as this is the last year which followed trends that we would expect to see in a typical year. Staging data for 2019 has issues with completeness therefore also not appropriate to use as a typical year.
  • Cancers that have been staged in an alternate system (Binet; ISS; Chang; INRGSS; NWTS) and cannot be mapped to TNM, have been included as two separate categories: ‘Other - Early’ and ‘Other - Advanced’. These have been included in the stage selection I & II ('Other - Early') and III & IV ('Other - Advanced').

Scotland

  • Although data is available up to 2021-2022, data for 2018-2019 is displayed as the default as this is the last year which followed trends that we would expect to see in a typical year.

Wales
  • Although data is available up to 2020, data for 2019 is displayed as the default as this is the last year which followed trends that we would expect to see in a typical year.

Northern Ireland

  • Although data is available up to 2016-2020, data for 2015-2019 is displayed as the default as this is the last year which followed trends that we would expect to see in a typical year.
  • Testicular cancer Stage 3 represents stages 3 & 4 (due to data availability).

Statement:



Data sources:

Data on the stage at diagnosis is not yet routinely available for the UK as a whole due to inconsistencies in the collecting and reporting of staging data across the UK.

Survival and Incidence by Stage at Diagnosis

Last reviewed: January 2024

Notes:

  • Not all sites have incidence and survival by stage; incidence and survival data are provided where available.
  • Net survival can be greater than 100% because it accounts for background mortality. Net survival greater than 100% indicates that patients in this group have a better chance of surviving one year after diagnosis compared with the general population.
  • Breast cancer survival figures are for females only; incidence is for males and females (except for Northern Ireland where incidence is for females only).
  • Scotland survival by stage data are not currently published.

England

  • Although incidence data is available up to 2020, data for 2018 is displayed as the default as this is the last year which followed trends that we would expect to see in a typical year. Staging data for 2019 has issues with completeness therefore also not appropriate to use as a typical year.
  • Ten-year survival for eight cancer sites is based on estimates for the East of England and should not be used in comparison to the one- and five-year survival estimates as the methodology and geography differs.
  • Survival for laryngeal cancer is for males only.

Wales
  • Although incidence data is available up to 2020, data for 2019 is displayed as the default as this is the last year which followed trends that we would expect to see in a typical year.

Northern Ireland

  • Although incidence data is available up to 2016-2020, data for 2015-2019 is displayed as the default as this is the last year which followed trends that we would expect to see in a typical year.
  • An additional report has been released detailing how survival for certain sites has changed between 2018-2019 and 2020 providing an overview of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. These data will be reflected on this hub once data for all sites are available.



Data sources:

England

Wales:

Northern Ireland:

Bowel Screening Uptake

Last reviewed: April 2024

There are currently three national screening programmes in the UK that help screen for cancer: Breast, Cervical and Bowel screening. Here we present summary measures for all three programmes and each of the four UK countries by reporting either uptake (breast and bowel) or coverage (cervical). For definitions of these measures, please see bottom of the page.

Notes:

Please note that in March 2020, in response to the Coronavirus pandemic, there was a temporary pause on the bowel screening programme, and so it is likely to affect numbers for 2020/21 and to a lesser extent 2019/2020.

England: Due to a methodology change in the most recent data release (December 2022), data from previous years have also been revised.

Scotland: Scotland reports bowel screening uptake data biennially, therefore, for example, the data point for 2021/22 covers the period from 1 May 2020 to 30 April 2022.

Northern Ireland: Due to a recent change in methodology in the calculation of screening uptake, only three time-points are published for reporting at this time.

Eligible age range and data source:

England (60-74): Fingertips (available at ICB, ICB sub-location, CCG, PCN and GP practice level).
The Faecal Immunochemical Test (FIT) replaced the guaiac Faecal Occult Blood Test (gFOBT) in the bowel cancer screening programme in June 2019. Current FIT threshold is 120µg/g.

Scotland (50-74): Public Health Scotland (available at Health Board level).
FIT replaced gFOBT in November 2017. Current FIT threshold is 80µg/g.

Wales (60-74, 58-74 in 2021/22): Public Health Wales (available at LA/Health Board level).
The roll out of FIT to replace gFOBT was phased from January to September 2019. Current FIT threshold is 150µg/g.

Northern Ireland (60-74): Public Health Agency. Director of Public Health Core Tables 2022 and Northern Ireland Bowel Cancer Screening Programme (NI BCSP) .
The roll out of FIT to replace gFOBT was from early 2021. Current FIT threshold is 120µg/g.


Definitions:
  • Coverage is the percentage of people in the population who are eligible for screening at a particular point in time and who have had a test with a recorded result at least once within the screening round (e.g., within the last 2.5 years for bowel screening; within the last 3 years for breast screening; within the last 3.5/5.5 years for cervical screening). It includes those screened through routine invitations, opportunistically (e.g., those who attended a GP appointment for another issue and were offered screening) and those that have followed up a screening invitation regardless of how long after it was sent. For cervical screening specifically, coverage is the measure typically used because GPs can ‘opportunistically’ screen women (or a request can be initiated by a woman) outside of the national screening programme (and this information is not captured in the national call/recall database, so uptake cannot be accurately calculated).
  • Uptake is a performance measure for the effectiveness of the screening programme. It is the percentage of people invited for screening in the year who were adequately screened within 6 months of the invitation. It does not include those screened opportunistically or those that have followed up a screening invitation more than 6 months after invitation. Uptake is likely to be more sensitive to changes in response rates over time because it covers a shorter period and so it is easier to determine whether an intervention has had an impact.

Breast Screening Uptake

Last reviewed: January 2024

There are currently three national screening programmes in the UK that help screen for cancer: Breast, Cervical and Bowel screening. Here we present summary measures for all three programmes and each of the four UK countries by reporting either uptake (breast and bowel) or coverage (cervical). For definitions of these measures, please see bottom of the page.

Notes:

When hovering over a data point, please note that the 'Uptake (%)' figures are for women aged 50-70 in all four countries (see definition of Uptake below). However, due to differential reporting practices, the definition of the 'Number Tested' figure differs across countries, as noted below. For a more detailed breakdown, follow the links in Data Sources.

  • England: The 'Number Tested' figure includes all women screened, including short term recall invitations and self/GP referrals, which are not included in the uptake calculations.

  • Scotland: The 'Number Tested' figure includes women of all ages rather than 50-70.

  • Wales: The 'Number Tested' figure includes women aged 49 and over rather than 50-70.

  • Northern Ireland: The 'Number Tested' figure includes all women screened, including early recall invitations and self/GP referrals, which are not included in the uptake calculations.


Please note that in March 2020, in response to the Coronavirus pandemic, there was a temporary pause on the breast screening programme, and so it is likely to affect numbers for 2020/21 and to a lesser extent 2019/2020.

Data sources:

England: NHS Digital (available at LA, NHS Reporting Region and Breast Screening Unit level. For ICB, ICB sub-location, CCG, PCN and GP practice level data, see Fingertips ).

Scotland: Public Health Scotland (available at NHS Board level).

Wales: Public Health Wales (available at LA/Health Board level).

Northern Ireland: Northern Ireland Breast Screening Programme (available at Breast Screening Unit and Region level).


Definitions:
  • Coverage is the percentage of people in the population who are eligible for screening at a particular point in time and who have had a test with a recorded result at least once within the screening round (e.g., within the last 2.5 years for bowel screening; within the last 3 years for breast screening; within the last 3.5/5.5 years for cervical screening). It includes those screened through routine invitations, opportunistically (e.g., those who attended a GP appointment for another issue and were offered screening) and those that have followed up a screening invitation regardless of how long after it was sent. For cervical screening specifically, coverage is the measure typically used because GPs can ‘opportunistically’ screen women (or a request can be initiated by a woman) outside of the national screening programme (and this information is not captured in the national call/recall database, so uptake cannot be accurately calculated).
  • Uptake is a performance measure for the effectiveness of the screening programme. It is the percentage of people invited for screening in the year who were adequately screened within 6 months of the invitation. It does not include those screened opportunistically or those that have followed up a screening invitation more than 6 months after invitation. Uptake is likely to be more sensitive to changes in response rates over time because it covers a shorter period and so it is easier to determine whether an intervention has had an impact.

Cervical Screening Coverage

Last reviewed: April 2024

There are currently three national screening programmes in the UK that help screen for cancer: Breast, Cervical and Bowel screening. Here we present summary measures for all three programmes and each of the four UK countries by reporting either uptake (breast and bowel) or coverage (cervical). For definitions of these measures, please see bottom of the page.

Notes:

We present four different measures of cervical screening coverage:

  • Age-appropriate (25-64): This measure combines the different screening intervals for women aged 25-49 and 50-64.

  • By age band (25-49): Proportion of eligible women aged 25-49 who attended cervical screening within 3.5 years (out of all eligible). Not available for Northern Ireland.

  • By age band (50-64): Proportion of eligible women aged 50-64 who attended cervical screening within 5.5 years (out of all eligible). Not available for Northern Ireland.

  • 5-year (25-64): Proportion of women whose most recent cervical screening was not more than 5 years ago (out of all eligible 25-64 year old women). This measure is no longer being updated by Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Please note that in March 2020, in response to the Coronavirus pandemic, there was a temporary pause on the cervical screening programme, and so it is likely to affect numbers for 2020/21 and to a lesser extent 2019/2020.

Data sources:

England: NHS Digital (available at LA, NHS Reporting Region and Colposcopy Clinic level. For ICB, ICB sub-location, CCG, PCN and GP practice level data, see PHE Fingertips ).

Scotland: Public Health Scotland (available at NHS Board level).

  • From 2016/17 Scotland stopped reporting 5-year coverage for all age bands
  • The eligible age range for cervical screening in Scotland until 2015/16 was 20-60 years.

Wales: Public Health Wales (available at LA/Health Board level).

Northern Ireland: Public Health Agency. Director of Public Health Core Tables 2022 (available at HSCT level). Please note that we have previously used the following source, which also includes breakdown by age group: Northern Ireland Cervical Cancer Screening Programme (NICSP) .


Definitions:
  • Coverage is the percentage of people in the population who are eligible for screening at a particular point in time and who have had a test with a recorded result at least once within the screening round (e.g., within the last 2.5 years for bowel screening; within the last 3 years for breast screening; within the last 3.5/5.5 years for cervical screening). It includes those screened through routine invitations, opportunistically (e.g., those who attended a GP appointment for another issue and were offered screening) and those that have followed up a screening invitation regardless of how long after it was sent. For cervical screening specifically, coverage is the measure typically used because GPs can ‘opportunistically’ screen women (or a request can be initiated by a woman) outside of the national screening programme (and this information is not captured in the national call/recall database, so uptake cannot be accurately calculated).
  • Uptake is a performance measure for the effectiveness of the screening programme. It is the percentage of people invited for screening in the year who were adequately screened within 6 months of the invitation. It does not include those screened opportunistically or those that have followed up a screening invitation more than 6 months after invitation. Uptake is likely to be more sensitive to changes in response rates over time because it covers a shorter period and so it is easier to determine whether an intervention has had an impact.

Statement Generator

Last reviewed: April 2024

Statement:




Bowel

Eligible age range and data source:

England (60-74): Fingertips (available at ICB, ICB sub-location, CCG, PCN and GP practice level).
The Faecal Immunochemical Test (FIT) replaced the guaiac Faecal Occult Blood Test (gFOBT) in the bowel cancer screening programme in June 2019. Current FIT threshold is 120µg/g.

Scotland (50-74): Public Health Scotland (available at Health Board level).
FIT replaced gFOBT in November 2017. Current FIT threshold is 80µg/g.

Wales (60-74, 58-74 in 2021/22): Public Health Wales (available at LA/Health Board level).
The roll out of FIT to replace gFOBT was phased from January to September 2019. Current FIT threshold is 150µg/g.

Northern Ireland (60-74): Public Health Agency. Director of Public Health Core Tables 2022 and Northern Ireland Bowel Cancer Screening Programme (NI BCSP) .
The roll out of FIT to replace gFOBT was from early 2021. Current FIT threshold is 120µg/g.

Breast

Data sources:

England: NHS Digital (available at LA, NHS Reporting Region and Breast Screening Unit level. For ICB, ICB sub-location, CCG, PCN and GP practice level data, see Fingertips ).

Scotland: Public Health Scotland (available at NHS Board level).

Wales: Public Health Wales (available at LA/Health Board level).

Northern Ireland: Northern Ireland Breast Screening Programme (available at Breast Screening Unit and Region level).

Cervical

Data sources:

England: NHS Digital (available at LA, NHS Reporting Region and Colposcopy Clinic level. For ICB, ICB sub-location, CCG, PCN and GP practice level data, see PHE Fingertips ).

Scotland: Public Health Scotland (available at NHS Board level).

  • From 2016/17 Scotland stopped reporting 5-year coverage for all age bands
  • The eligible age range for cervical screening in Scotland until 2015/16 was 20-60 years.

Wales: Public Health Wales (available at LA/Health Board level).

Northern Ireland: Public Health Agency. Director of Public Health Core Tables 2022 (available at HSCT level). Please note that we have previously used the following source, which also includes breakdown by age group: Northern Ireland Cervical Cancer Screening Programme (NICSP) .

USCR - Referral rate

Last reviewed: June 2022

An urgent suspected cancer (USC) referral (or Two Week Wait referral) is made by a GP who suspects that a patient’s symptoms are due to cancer and aims to ensure they are seen swiftly (within 2 weeks of referral) by secondary care. The referral rate indicates the number of USC referrals per 100,000 population.Conversion rate is the proportion of USC referrals that result in a cancer diagnosis and detection rate is the proportion of people who were referred via the USC pathway (as opposed to other pathways) who start cancer treatment (as recorded in the Cancer Waiting Times data).

Notes:

  • There have been changes in trends due to COVID-19 impacting on some activity, especially during the financial year 2020/21.
  • 'Breast symptoms' USC pathway is for patients who exhibit breast symptoms but cancer is not initially suspected. For detection rate, this is included in the 'Breast' USC pathway.

  • Data is currently only available for England for this measure.

Data sources:

England: Cancer Data (available by Cancer Site and at NHS Region, STP, CCG and Cancer Alliance level) | PHE Fingertips (available at NHS Region, STP, CCG, PCN and GP practice level).

USCR - Conversion rate

Last reviewed: June 2022

An urgent suspected cancer (USC) referral (or Two Week Wait referral) is made by a GP who suspects that a patient’s symptoms are due to cancer and aims to ensure they are seen swiftly (within 2 weeks of referral) by secondary care. The referral rate indicates the number of USC referrals per 100,000 population.Conversion rate is the proportion of USC referrals that result in a cancer diagnosis and detection rate is the proportion of people who were referred via the USC pathway (as opposed to other pathways) who start cancer treatment (as recorded in the Cancer Waiting Times data).

Notes:

  • There have been changes in trends due to COVID-19 impacting on some activity, especially during the financial year 2020/21.
  • 'Breast symptoms' USC pathway is for patients who exhibit breast symptoms but cancer is not initially suspected. For detection rate, this is included in the 'Breast' USC pathway.

  • Data is currently only available for England for this measure.

Data sources:

England: Cancer Data (available by Cancer Site and at NHS Region, STP, CCG and Cancer Alliance level) | PHE Fingertips (available at NHS Region, STP, CCG, PCN and GP practice level).

USCR - Detection rate

Last reviewed: June 2022

An urgent suspected cancer (USC) referral (or Two Week Wait referral) is made by a GP who suspects that a patient’s symptoms are due to cancer and aims to ensure they are seen swiftly (within 2 weeks of referral) by secondary care. The referral rate indicates the number of USC referrals per 100,000 population.Conversion rate is the proportion of USC referrals that result in a cancer diagnosis and detection rate is the proportion of people who were referred via the USC pathway (as opposed to other pathways) who start cancer treatment (as recorded in the Cancer Waiting Times data).

Notes:

  • There have been changes in trends due to COVID-19 impacting on some activity, especially during the financial year 2020/21.
  • 'Breast symptoms' USC pathway is for patients who exhibit breast symptoms but cancer is not initially suspected. For detection rate, this is included in the 'Breast' USC pathway.

  • Data is currently only available for England for this measure.

Data sources:

England: Cancer Data (available by Cancer Site and at NHS Region, STP, CCG and Cancer Alliance level) | PHE Fingertips (available at NHS Region, STP, CCG, PCN and GP practice level).

Routes to Diagnosis - Emergency Presentations breakdown

Last reviewed: June 2021

Notes:

  • Only data for England is currently available. See Data sources at the bottom of this page for more information.

  • Here, the emergency presentation route has been broken down into sub-routes to provide further insight: Accident and Emergency presentations, GP emergency presentations (emergency referral), inpatient emergencies and outpatient emergencies.

  • Screening route is only applicable to cancer sites with a national screening programme (breast, bowel and cervical cancer).

Data sources:

England: National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service (NCRAS) (available by Cancer Alliance and CCG (limited) level in 'Workbook (b)' of the NCRAS outputs ).
Note that 2016 data are the latest available data which include the emergency presentation breakdown. Top-line data for 2017 are available from the link above.

Scotland: Data not currently available to present in this chart. An overview of Routes to Diagnosis for Scotland can be found in the Public Health Scotland National Cancer Diagnosis Audit for 2018-2019.

Wales: There are currently no routinely published data available. However, there is work in progress by WCISU and Macmillan.

Northern Ireland: Data not currently available to present in this chart. However, an interactive tool of Routes to Diagnosis with a breakdown by stage, HSC Trust, demographics and net survival can be downloaded from HSC Business Services Organisation.

Proportion of Cases by Route to Diagnosis

Last reviewed: May 2022

Notes:

  • Cancer sites are ordered from the highest to lowest proportion diagnosed through Two Week Wait (England) or Suspected cancer / Red Flag route (NI).

  • Screening route is only applicable to cancer sites with a national screening programme (breast, bowel and cervical cancer).

  • 'Unknown' route to diagnosis consists of tumours diagnosed through death certificate only (DCO) or unknown route.



Data sources:

  • England: NHS Digital (2006 - 2018; available by Cancer Alliance, age, sex and stage; detailed ICD10 codes for the cancer sites listed available on the NHS Digital webpage).

  • Northern Ireland: Data available via an interactive tool with a breakdown by stage, HSC Trust, demographics and net survival can be downloaded from HSC Business Services Organisation.

  • Scotland: Data not currently available to present in this chart. An overview of Routes to Diagnosis for Scotland can be found in the Public Health Scotland National Cancer Diagnosis Audit for 2018-2019.

  • Wales: There are currently no routinely published data available. However, there is work in progress by WCISU and Macmillan.

Routes to Diagnosis

Last reviewed: April 2022

Notes:

  • Screening route is only applicable to cancer sites with a national screening programme (breast, bowel and cervical cancer).

  • 'Unknown' route to diagnosis consists of tumours diagnosed through death certificate only (DCO) or unknown route.



Note the complete list of sites included in cancer site groups for England data:
All Cancers Combined (sum of the following cancer sites), Bladder (C67), Bladder - invasive and non-invasive (D09.0-D09.1, D41.4), Blood (C81.0-81.3, C81.7-C82.2, C82.7-C84.5, C85.1, C85.7- C85.9, C88.0-C88.3,C88.7-C90.2, C91.091.5, C91.7, C91.9-C92.5, C92.7, C92.9-C93.1, C93.7-C94.4, C94.7-C96.2, C96.7, C96.9, D45-D46.4,D46.7-D47.3,D47.7-D47.9), Bone cancer (C40-C41), Brain, meningeal and other primary CNS tumours (C70-72, C75.1-C75.3, D32-33, D35.2-D35.4, D42-D43, D44.3-D44.5), Breast (C50), Cervical (C53), Colorectal (C18-C20), Head and neck (C00-C14, C30-C32), Kidney (C64), Liver (C22), Lung (C33-C34), Oesophagus (C15), Ovarian (Ovary, fallopian tube and primary peritoneal carcinomas (incl. borderline); C48,C56, C57, D39.1), Pancreas (C25), Prostate (C61), Renal pelvis and ureter (malignant or in situ; C64-C66, D09.1), Stomach (C16), Testicular (C62, D29.2), Unknown primary (C77-C79.8, C80), Urethra (malignant or in situ; C68, D09.1), Uterus (C54-C55)

Data sources:

  • England: NHS Digital (2006 - 2018; available by Cancer Alliance, age, sex and stage; detailed ICD10 codes for the cancer sites listed available on the NHS Digital webpage).

  • Scotland: Data not currently available to present in this chart. An overview of Routes to Diagnosis for Scotland can be found in the Public Health Scotland National Cancer Diagnosis Audit for 2018-2019.

  • Wales: There are currently no routinely published data available. However, there is work in progress by WCISU and Macmillan.

  • Northern Ireland: Data not currently available to present in this chart. However, an interactive tool with a breakdown by stage, HSC Trust, demographics and net survival can be downloaded from HSC Business Services Organisation.

Routes to Diagnosis by Stage

Last reviewed: April 2022

Notes:

  • Presentation routes are ordered from the highest to lowest proportion diagnosed at stage I and II combined.

  • Screening route is only applicable to cancer sites with a national screening programme (breast, bowel and cervical cancer).

  • For England, the 'Other' route to diagnosis represents tumours diagnosed through death certificate only (DCO) or an unknown route.

  • For Northern Ireland, tumours diagnosed through death certificate only (DCO) or an unknown route are not included in the chart. Data is for 2012-2016 annual average.



Data sources:

  • England: NHS Digital (2006 - 2018; available by Cancer Alliance, age, sex and stage; ICD10 codes for the cancer sites listed available on the NHS Digital webpage).