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Blood Cancer: Health Services

Question for Department of Health and Social Care

UIN 2035, tabled on 29 July 2024

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the evaluation of non-specific pathways will include granular blood cancer data.

Answered on

2 September 2024

Raising awareness, delivering more research, including into new treatments, and improving early diagnosis of cancers, which includes blood related cancers such as leukaemia, are crucial for improving cancer survival.

NHS England has implemented non-symptom specific pathways for patients who present with non-specific symptoms, or combinations thereof, that can indicate several different cancers. This includes leukaemia, which can present non-specific symptoms, such as unexpected weight loss and night sweats. Using its national evaluation, NHS England has determined that blood cancers are one of the most common cancer types diagnosed through these pathways.