HUNDREDS of cancers are not discovered until they have progressed to the most deadly stage of illness in mid Essex, new figures show.

A "cancer catastrophe" could be on the cards if more is not done to reduce the number of people receiving late diagnoses, Cancer Research UK has claimed.

Tens of thousands of cancer cases reached the most severe stage of illness before being detected across England in 2019 – the most recent figures available from NHS Digital.

At least 410 cases diagnosed by medics in the NHS Mid Essex CCG area had reached an advanced stage at the point of diagnosis that year.

Cancer Research UK said there are concerns that survival rates could "go backwards" as a result of the coronavirus pandemic's impact upon the NHS.

Before cancer patients embark upon treatment, doctors commonly use staging techniques to establish how severe the disease is and how far it has spread.

The stages, which range in severity from zero to four, are used to describe the size of tumours and to determine how far the cancer has spread from where it originated.

There were 2,371 cancers diagnosed in Mid Essex in 2019 and stage four diagnoses, which carry the greatest mortality risk, represented 25 per cent of those with a valid stage identified.

That was about the same as recorded the year before.

Figures for CCGs across England show some cancers are far more likely to be diagnosed late than others, with those affecting the pancreas, lungs and oesophagus among those the most likely to be detected at an advanced stage – often because they do not cause symptoms until a later stage.

In the area covered by the NHS Mid Essex CCG, 47 per cent of the 233 lung cancers detected in 2019 were at stage four when found, as were 32 of 84 pancreatic cancers and 17 of 63 oesophageal cases.

Patients diagnosed at the earliest stage are between five and 10 times more likely to survive at least five years compared to those diagnosed at stage four.

An NHS spokesman said the health service was committed to ensuring that 75 per cent of cancers are detected at stage one by 2028, adding that 95 per cent of those diagnosed since March 2020 began treatment within a month.