Bid to raise awareness of cancer symptoms

West Bromwich Albion Football Club and singer-songwriter Peter Andre are among backers of the NHS Be Clear on Cancer campaign, aimed at raising awareness of blood in the urine as a key symptom of bladder and kidney cancers.

The move comes as new figures showed more people are being diagnosed with kidney cancer and dying from the disease in England compared with a decade ago.

Incidence rates have jumped by 31 per cent over the last 10 years and mortality rates have increased by seven per cent over the last decade, with around 3,500 people dying from kidney cancer in England in 2011, according to Cancer Research UK.

Public health experts have said they are concerned by a lack of public awareness of key symptoms of the disease.

Blood in the urine, even if it appears just once, could be a symptom of both bladder and kidney cancer, they have warned. People should visit their GP if they spot the symptom, they advised.

A recent survey showed almost a third, or 30 per cent of people, would wait and see if they spotted blood in their urine again before taking any action, which could delay their diagnosis and reduce their chances of survival.

Around 71 per cent of people diagnosed with kidney cancer survive for at least a year, with around 54 per cent surviving for at least five years.

But the earlier kidney cancer is diagnosed, the higher the chances of survival – when diagnosed at the earliest stage, one-year survival rises to as high as between 92 per cent and 97 per cent compared to only 25 to 32 per cent at a late stage.

Other bladder cancer symptoms include needing to urinate very often or very suddenly and pain while urinating.

Other kidney cancer symptoms include a pain below the ribs that doesn’t go away and a lump in the stomach.