Number of people living with cancer to hit record of 3.4 million this year
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A cancer charity warned the experience of having cancer was also getting worse for many people, with delays to treatment and sometimes a postcode lottery of care. The number of Britons living with cancer will hit a new high of 3.4 million people this year, analysis suggests.
![[Some patients reported cancer care was getting poorer]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/20/16/iStock-1472955817.jpg)
In 2025, half a million more people will be living with cancer than in 2020, research from cancer support charity Macmillan has found, driven by an ageing population, increases in survival rates and a rise in people diagnosed with melanoma, thyroid and liver cancer.
The increase in people living with cancer by December 2025 includes about 890,000 women with breast cancer, 610,000 men with prostate cancer, 390,000 people with bowel cancer and 120,000 people with lung cancer. But Macmillan warned the experience of having cancer was also getting worse for many people, with delays to treatment and sometimes a postcode lottery of care.
A YouGov poll of more than 2,000 people last year found a third felt it was harder to be living with cancer now than at any other time they could remember, increasing to 48 per cent of those who also had a serious disability. Analysis of NHS data also suggests many people with cancer are reporting poorer experiences across several areas of care, including people from ethnic minority backgrounds and those from the LGBTQ+ community, Macmillan said.
