Imagine getting a cancer diagnosis, and instead of having to break the devastating news to your family, enduring harrowing treatments and frantically googling survival rates, it felt more like being told you had the flu. That could be a reality in the not-too-distant future, thanks to the “treatment revolution” already underway, according to Sir Stephen Powis, the outgoing medical director of NHS England.
Although one in two people will get cancer in their lifetime, and there are 385,000 cancer diagnoses each year in the UK, Powis believes that “we are at the cusp of a golden era in terms of the way we treat a range of cancers … for many cancers now, people should be confident that it’s not a death sentence.”
