Overview

• Cancer Research UK’s June 26 analysis calculates that early deaths from cancer cost the UK economy £10.3 billion each year, averaging £61,000 per adult fatality.
• Young adult fatalities between ages 25 and 49 contribute £3.2 billion in lost output, while lung cancer alone causes £1.7 billion in yearly earnings loss.
• On current trends, annual diagnoses could reach half a million by 2040, intensifying forecasted losses unless survival rates and early detection improve.
• The analysis calls on the government to bolster prevention efforts targeting smoking, obesity and alcohol use and to expand early detection programmes such as lung screening.
• The Department of Health and Social Care is due to publish a 10-year health plan next week aiming to transform cancer care through new diagnostics, technology and community screening centres.