NHS Cancer Plan: Breast Cancer Prevention And Rising UK Cancer Cases

The NHS Cancer Plan for England sets out an ambitious vision to improve cancer outcomes through faster diagnosis, reduced waiting times and more personalised care. At Prevent Breast Cancer, we have consulted our Scientific Advisory Board, including experts Professor Cliona Kirwan, Dr Sacha Howell, Mr Lester Barr MBE, Dr Mary Wilson and Mr Rajiv Dave, to inform our response to the Plan and its implications for breast cancer prevention and early detection.

It comes at a critical moment following new analysis from Cancer Research UK showing that cancer cases in the UK have now exceeded 400,000 a year for the first time. This milestone highlights the urgent need to strengthen cancer prevention, improve early diagnosis and invest in long-term capacity across the NHS.

As the CRUK article states,

We’ve made incredible progress against cancer […] But, with the impact of cancer and the pressures on the NHS growing, these improvements are now at risk of stalling.

Prevent Breast Cancer welcomes the Plan’s focus on prevention and early detection, but we also recognise that delivering real change will depend on sustained investment, stronger research infrastructure and effective implementation of translation of evidence-based research outputs into NHS practice.

While the NHS Cancer Plan rightly highlights lifestyle factors such as diet, alcohol and tobacco, breast cancer prevention is more complex. Risk is influenced by a combination of biological, genetic, environmental and social factors.

Lifestyle change alone is not enough. Prevention must also include structural improvements such as better access to healthy food, stronger community infrastructure and environments that support healthier choices.

Crucially, prevention must include access to risk-reducing and preventative therapies. For example, drugs such as tamoxifen and anastrozole can significantly reduce breast cancer risk in high-risk women, yet access and uptake across the NHS remain limited. Encouraging uptake, as well as expanding these options, must be part of a comprehensive breast cancer prevention strategy.

The NHS Cancer Plan’s focus on diagnosing more cancers at stage 1 is particularly important. Earlier detection leads to better outcomes, less invasive treatment and improved survival rates. According to Cancer Research UK, in England, almost 100% of women diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer survive for five years or more, compared with more than 25% diagnosed at stage 4.

Advances in technology, including artificial intelligence, have the potential to support faster and more accurate diagnosis and help reduce pressure on services. However, technology can only go so far. It must be implemented alongside sustained investment in the trained workforce needed to deliver screening and diagnostic services safely and effectively.

Without enough radiologists and breast imaging specialists, delays in diagnosis will continue. As Cancer Research UK highlights, cancer waiting times remain among the worst on record, with around 107,000 patients in England waiting longer than the 62-day target to begin treatment in 2025. The last time any UK nation consistently met this standard was in 2015.

Strengthening diagnostic capacity is therefore essential. As The NHS Cancer Plan notes, this will require both improving access to diagnostic services and removing barriers to care so more people can be seen earlier. Crucially, it also depends on building and sustaining the workforce needed to deliver these services. Initiatives such as the National Breast Imaging Academy, which opened in 2026 to train the next generation of specialists, are a positive step forward, but further long-term investment is needed to reduce delays and improve early diagnosis.

The recognition of risk-stratified screening in the NHS Cancer Plan is a positive step forward. Moving towards more personalised screening could significantly improve outcomes by identifying women at higher risk and tailoring screening accordingly.

Delivering this approach will require access to genetic testing, including both rare gene mutations and more complex polygenic risk scores, as well as better assessment of breast density. These tools are not yet widely available within the NHS, and investment will be essential to make personalised screening a reality.

We welcome the plan’s commitment both to monitoring emerging evidence from trials to improve targeted screening for women at higher risk of cancer, and to increasing the representation of people from diverse ethnic backgrounds in medical research.

The NHS Cancer Plan includes encouraging commitments to reach under-served communities and involve them in the design of services. This is a positive step forward. However, through our Roundtable series, bringing together researchers, community groups and services providers, it is clear that many barriers to access are already well understood. The priority must now be greater investment in practical, community-led solutions that address them.

Digital tools such as the NHS App could play an important role in improving access to information and enabling self-referral. However, technology alone is not the answer. Without investment in digital inclusion and literacy, there is a risk these innovations could widen existing inequalities and further alienate the communities they are intended to support.

At Prevent Breast Cancer, we know that improving health inclusion is not about quick fixes. It requires trust, listening to communities and meeting people where they are. Our work across Greater Manchester focuses on improving breast cancer awareness and early detection, through multilingual resources, outreach and community engagement.

There is also an opportunity to learn from global approaches. In lower income settings, community-led strategies have been developed to reach under-served populations. Adapting and testing similar approaches in the UK could help improve access to screening and early diagnosis.

Ultimately, tackling health inequalities will require sustained investment, stronger partnerships and a shift from identifying problems to delivering measurable, lasting change.

The NHS Cancer Plan acknowledges the importance of collaboration between the NHS, charities and academic institutions. This is encouraging, but stronger mechanisms are needed to ensure that research findings are translated into real-world improvements in care.

At Prevent Breast Cancer, this is central to our approach. Through the Prevent Breast Cancer Research Unit, a collaboration between Prevent Breast Cancer, the University of Manchester and Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, we are driving forward research focused on prevention and early detection, with a clear pathway to clinical impact. By bringing together expertise across charity, academia and clinical practice, we aim to ensure that discoveries can be translated more quickly into benefits for patients.

There is also a need to strengthen research infrastructure more broadly. Faster clinical trial set-up, wider participation and the inclusion of service users, particularly from under-represented groups, in the design and delivery of research will only be possible with adequate funding and support.

We remain committed to funding research that not only advances scientific understanding but can also be implemented within the NHS to improve outcomes and ultimately help prevent breast cancer before it develops.

Breast cancer remains the most common cancer in women in the UK, with over 59,400 cases diagnosed each year. As overall cancer cases continue to rise, a comprehensive approach that prioritises prevention, early detection and equitable access to care has never been more important.

The NHS Cancer Plan provides a strong foundation, but its success will depend on delivery, investment and workforce capacity. At present, only around 5% of government health spending is allocated to preventative care and early detection, according to the Office for National Statistics, highlighting the scale of the challenge and the opportunity to shift towards a more prevention-led system.

We hope to see continued recognition of the vital role charities play in supporting the NHS and driving innovation in prevention and early diagnosis. By working together, we can move closer to a future where more breast cancers are prevented and detected earlier, leading to improved outcomes for all.