Cancer is costly for patients and the NHS – but it also has a significant impact on the UK economy, according to research led by the University of Leeds.
The UK could save billions of pounds per year by focusing on cancer prevention, as well as finding and treating cancer earlier, according to the Cost of Cancer report, commissioned by Cancer Research UK.
By increasing our focus on preventing cancer, or in some cases catching it early before it spreads, we can not only increase survival but also reduce costs.
Published today (Friday 27 June), the results show that between £7.6-11.6bn in paid productivity is lost by the UK economy every year due to lives cut short by cancer.
Behind every death as a result of cancer is an individual, their family and loved ones, and this has ripple effects way beyond economics. But the researchers hope that sharing the economic impact of early deaths will encourage policy action to implement preventative and early diagnosis measures.
Lead author Dr Katie Spencer, Associate Professor and Honorary Consultant Clinical Oncologist in the School of Medicine at the University of Leeds, said: “This report shows that by increasing our focus on preventing cancer, or in some cases catching it early before it spreads, we can not only increase survival but also reduce costs. Strategies should focus on reducing smoking and addressing obesity as the main preventable risk factors for cancer.”
One successful and cost-effective strategy cited by the report is the lung cancer screening programme rolled out by the Government in 2023. This approach was trialled in the Leeds Lung Health Check, led by the University of Leeds and Leeds Teaching Hospitals and funded by Yorkshire Cancer Research. The report states that the national rollout resulted in a reduction in late presentations, particularly in more socioeconomically deprived populations, and approaches like this should be explored in other cancer screening programmes.
Hidden costs
The report also estimates that inability to work due to cancer costs another £1-1.7bn each year, with informal, unpaid care-giving for people with cancer adding a further £4-4.5bn.
They also found that very high costs of up to £17,799 per person are seen in the NHS, in patients’ final year of life. The researchers suggest that increasing integration of palliative care and cancer services could improve quality of life and end-of-life experiences for people with advanced cancer, while also saving money if care can be moved out of hospitals and into community and neighbourhood services.
The researchers analysed data from numerous studies to estimate the costs of different types of cancer, as well as the economic impact of lost productivity as a result of early death, cancer symptoms and treatment side-effects, and of unpaid caring responsibilities.
But the researchers say we still don’t know enough about the costs of cancer, particularly how they vary between different people and how they are experienced by patients. Patients incur significant expenses, which include travel to hospital appointments, paying more to heat their homes, childcare, prescriptions, medical aids, prosthetics, wigs and therapy. But this varies based on the type of cancer, the age of the patient, where they live and more – so work is needed to understand this in depth.
Co-author Laura Ashley, Professor of Health Psychology at Leeds Beckett University, said: “When we spoke to patients about the review findings they felt the current research doesn’t give the full picture and for patients and families who bear the highest costs it reveals only the tip of the iceberg. The limited research in this area has failed to capture the full range and extent of patient-borne costs, tending to focus on acute travel and informal care costs, and particularly to neglect long-term employment-related income loss.”
The report also points out that cancer diagnosis for a child or adult also has significant ripple effects that are not well-evidenced in existing research. For example, a small business owner with employees may be forced to close their company down, causing several job losses, or a parent of a child with cancer may not be able to work.
Bob Phillips, Professor in Paediatrics and Evidence Synthesis at the University of York and Honorary Consultant in Paediatric Oncology at Hull-York Medical School, was a co-author on the report. Professor Phillips said: “When a child is diagnosed with cancer, one parent often switches from employment to a full-time caring role. This, on top of all the extra costs of travel to one of the only twenty centres in the UK which treats children, can place intolerable financial burdens. This research highlights how little this has been acknowledged and how we need solid academic work to allow it to become a government priority.”
Early diagnosis and prevention needed
Chief executive of Cancer Research UK, Michelle Mitchell, said: "We know that cancer has an immeasurable impact on patients and their loved ones. But this report reveals there is also a clear and devastating economic cost.
“At a time of tight budgets and overstretched services, the government can’t afford to wait any longer. The upcoming national cancer plan is the opportunity to transform cancer care in England. Action to prevent more cancers, and diagnose them early, will help build a stronger, healthier economy, whilst giving people more moments with those they love.”
As the Government prepares to announce its national cancer plan, the report sets out the following recommendations:
- Preventing cancer can not only save lives but also money
- Earlier diagnosis reduces overall economic costs in most cases
- Investing in community/neighbourhood services and integrated palliative care would improve the end-of-life experience and efficiency of healthcare spending
- Improving data access and linkage will accelerate progress in cancer research and inform better policymaking
- Public and independent research funders need to invest more into understanding the cost of cancer, both to the economy and to patients.
The next step for the researchers is to investigate the inequalities of how patterns of patient-experienced and NHS costs vary between people of different backgrounds.
Dr Spencer, who chairs the Applied Health Research subgroup in the Leeds Cancer Research Centre, said: “We can see from this study that people with cancer shoulder a heavy burden of costs and that together with costs to the NHS these have a significant economic impact. These effects will be felt differently by different individuals. We need to better understand these costs, so we can ensure that the right support is available and that policies can be effectively targeted to improve outcomes for patients and support the wider economy.”
Lead economist at Cancer Research UK, Annalisa Belloni, said: "This government won’t deliver growth without delivering for people affected by cancer. Dedicating energy and resources to tackling this disease shouldn’t be seen as a cost – it’s an absolutely necessary investment.
“Shifting from cancer treatment to cancer prevention - like the Tobacco and Vapes Bill currently going through parliament – is vital. And in the long term, investing in research could reap the biggest rewards for both patients and the economy.”
The Cancer Research UK report was led by researchers at the University of Leeds. The co-authors were based at the University of Edinburgh, Queen’s University Belfast, the Leeds Cancer Centre, Leeds Beckett University and the University of York.
Further information
For media enquiries, please contact Mia Saunders in the University of Leeds press office via m.saunders@leeds.ac.uk.
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