Interactive chart reveals how spotting cancer at its earliest stage can boost survival rates by up to 13-fold

Spotting cancer early can drastically improve survival rates and make treatments more effective.

For example, Cancer Research UK states one in 20 Brits diagnosed with stage four lung cancer will still be alive five years later.

But this rises from 5 to 65 per cent when spotted at the earliest phase.

Similar increases are seen for bowel and bladder cancers, two of the other cancers most common among men over 75. 

Buckingham Palace last night revealed that King Charles has been diagnosed with an unspecified form of cancer during treatment for an enlarged prostate.

However, the 75-year-old does not have prostate cancer — the most common type among elderly men. 

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said this morning that he was ‘shocked and sad’ to hear about the diagnosis.

However, he said he was ‘thankful’ it had been ‘caught early’ and wished Charles a full recovery.

Survival rates depend entirely on the type of cancer, with some known to be more aggressive than others.

Early stage cancer (stage one) means the disease has not begun to spread to other organs and treatment is more likely to be successful.

For example, CRUK analysis suggests more than nine in 10 people diagnosed with early bowel cancer will survive at least five years. 

This plunges to one in 10 people if bowel cancer is diagnosed at the most advanced stage (stage four) and has spread to other parts of the body. 

This phase of the illness is known as ‘metastatic’.

With bladder cancer, around 80 per cent of people can expect to survive five years or more if diagnosed at an early stage.

This drops to around 10 per cent when caught at an advanced stage.

Each type of cancer is different, with things such as genetic changes meaning some cancers are more aggressive.

The particular subset of cancer can also have an effect.

For example, about 90 out of 100 bladder cancers in the UK are urothelial cancer — developing from cells of the bladder lining. 

Five per cent are squamous cell cancer — flat cells that line the body’s organs.

No further details on Charles’ condition have been shared, other than he remains ‘wholly positive’ and is looking forward to returning to full public duties.

Family and friends were said to be amazed by the King’s determination to carry on with ‘business as usual’.

Figures suggest one in two people will develop some form of cancer during their lifetime. 

The NHS runs breast, bowel and cervical cancer screening, and is rolling out lung cancer checks.

Cancer screening is known to save thousands of lives each year.

As well as detecting cancers at an early stage, screening can detect changes before the disease even takes hold.

Cancer Research UK advises people to always contact their doctor if something in their body does not look or feel quite right, or if they suspect they have cancer.

People should also attend all their screening appointments when invited. 

Professor Lawrence Young, a professor of molecular oncology at the University of Warwick, said: ‘A cancer diagnosis is always worrying. 

‘Each year more than a third of all cancer cases in the UK are diagnosed in people aged 75 and over. 

‘The good news is that with improved diagnostic tests and treatments cancer survival has doubled over the last 50 years in the UK. 

‘Diagnosing cancer early provides the best chance of successful treatment and cure.’

He added: ‘The King’s openness about his cancer diagnosis raises the profile of this disease and emphasises the importance of early diagnosis.’

Data shows cancer survival rates have soared over the past 50 years.

Only one in four men with prostate cancer in the 1970s would live to see the next decade.

Today, the reverse is true, with 75 per cent of men diagnosed with the disease still alive a decade later, figures show.

Last year a major Oxford University study found women diagnosed with breast cancer are two-thirds more likely to survive than their counterparts 20 years ago.

Researchers discovered women diagnosed with between 1993 and 1999 had a 14 per cent chance of dying from the disease within the first five years.

But this risk has fallen to five per cent for those diagnosed between 2010 and 2015. 

Despite the positive outlook for the future of cancer care, top oncologists have warned cancer patients in the UK could face challenges getting treatment quickly enough, as the health service has consistently failed to meet key targets. 

Latest official health service data on cancer waiting times show that just six in ten (65.2 per cent) cancer patients were seen within the two-month target in November. 

NHS rules state 85 per cent of cancer patients should be seen in this timeframe.

Medics have also predicted that years of life lost to cancer are set to increase due to the disruption the Covid caused to the NHS.

Cancer care was effectively ground to a halt for some patients when the pandemic first reached the UK’s shores, with appointments cancelled and diagnostic scans delayed because of the Government’s devotion to protecting the NHS.

Experts have estimated 40,000 cancers went undiagnosed during the first year of pandemic alone.