Missing cancer treatment target is unacceptable, warn charities (From Herald Scotland) : heraldscotland

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Missing cancer treatment target is unacceptable, warn charities (From Herald Scotland)

Missing cancer treatment target is unacceptable, warn charities (From Herald Scotland)

Cancer charities have insisted it is unacceptable that a key waiting time target for treatment has not been met.New figures show that between April and June, 89.7% of people who were urgently referred began treatment within 62 days - less than the Scottish Government's target of 95% and down slightly from 90.2% in the first three months of 2016.Just two of Scotland's 14 regional health boards met the target, with NHS Borders and NHS Lanarkshire treating 97.2% and 95.4% of patients within 62 days.Read more: Scots doctor issues warning over key cancer symptomOf the 10 types of cancer, breast cancer was the only form of the disease for which the target was met, with 96.4% of patients treated within two months of referral.


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'Unacceptable': SNP 'putting lives at risk' as it misses cancer treatment targets AGAIN

'Unacceptable': SNP 'putting lives at risk' as it misses cancer treatment targets AGAIN

GETTY Figures for the second quarter of this year show just 89.7 per cent of patients were seen on timeAccording to a Scottish Government target, 95 per cent of patients urgently referred when doctors suspect cancer should wait no more than 62 days from referral to their first treatment.But latest official figures for waiting times reveal that hospitals are continuing to get worse at meeting the target.The statistics for the second quarter of this year show that only 89.7 per cent of patients were seen on time.This is down from 90.2 per cent in the first three months of 2016 and the worst performance since records began in 2010.


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Customized cancer treatment moves closer to FDA approval

Customized cancer treatment moves closer to FDA approval

A promising new approach to cancer is moving closer to reaching patients, as the biotech company Kite Pharma prepares to make its case for Food and Drug Administration approval.Kite announced Monday that its novel immunotherapy led to complete remissions for about one-third of patients with a severe form of blood cancer in a small clinical trial.The company believes those results will be enough to convince the FDA to let it on the market.But there are caveats: The therapy has only been tested in a few dozen patients, the trial did not have a placebo arm, and the treatment can cause severe side effects, including abnormally low white blood cell counts, anemia, and neurological toxicities.