MORE patients are diagnosed with cancer in an emergency in Britain than in a range of comparable high-income countries, a study suggests.

People who end up in A&E, sometimes after seeing a GP repeatedly, are less likely to survive the disease, particularly if they have stomach, bowel, liver, pancreatic, lung or ovarian cancer.

The study by the International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership looked at cancer data and linked hospital admissions in Australia, Canada, Denmark, New Zealand, Norway, Britain and Northern Ireland between 2012 and 2017.

Experts at University College London looked at eight major cancers and found that more than a third of patients in England, Wales and Scotland were diagnosed after being rushed to hospital.

In total, 46 per cent of people with pancreatic cancer were diagnosed in an emergency overall, but the figure was 56 per cent in England and Wales, and 59 per cent in Scotland.

And 47 per cent of people in Britain were diagnosed with liver cancer in an emergency, compared to 40 per cent in the Australian state of New South Wales, 32 per cent in Alberta and 28 per cent in Ontario, both provinces of Canada.

Emergency diagnoses led to a two-fold higher risk of dying in the next 12 months compared with diagnosis at other times.

Cancer Research UK chief executive Michelle Mitchell said: “The UK is already lagging when it comes to cancer survival — this study helps us understand why.

“We’d like to see governments across the UK take bold action on this within their cancer plans, so that, by 2032, fewer than 10 per cent of cancer cases are diagnosed through emergency routes.”

Matthew Black, a 57-year-old chartered surveyor and father of two, started having stomach problems and losing weight in April 2020, so he got in touch with his GP.

Initially, it was thought that he could be suffering the after-effects of symptomatic Covid-19 infection, but after he lost more than two stone in just one month, his family encouraged him to go to A&E.

Scans revealed a blockage in his colon and he underwent a five-hour operation to remove the grapefruit-sized tumour that was obstructing his bowels.

Mr Black, who was subsequently given the all-clear, said: “It’s too bad my cancer wasn’t caught earlier, but I consider myself extremely lucky.

“It’s important people do not ignore sudden or unusual changes to their bodies.

“And don’t leave it too long to get back in touch with the GP practice if symptoms don’t go away or get worse. It could save your life.”