The challenges and opportunities for kidney cancer care recovery
Kidney cancer care is rapidly approaching a tipping point in the UK. Despite being one of the 12 most common cancers in the UK, kidney cancer is the only one without dedicated guidelines and recommendations from the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE). Instead, kidney cancer falls under the umbrella of urological cancer guidance, which is currently outdated by almost two decades.
In fact, according to Siew-Kwan Chang, Ipsen UK’s Oncology Business Unit Head, the pressures of COVID-19 only exacerbated existing issues, exposing problems caused by the lack of dedicated guidance, gaps in data collection, a lack of holistic treatment pathways, insufficient investment, and the need for patient organisations providing psychosocial support for patients.
“Every day, 13 people die from kidney cancer” he explains. “The survival rate is not good – only around half of people diagnosed will survive their disease for five years or more.”i
“In the UK, there is no holistic way of treating kidney cancer, and the guidelines are 20 years out of date.ii Despite ongoing efforts to improve kidney cancer care, we still fall far short of where we need to be and in order to make the change that is needed, the disease must be made a priority as a matter of urgency.”
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