Male cancers trailing behind in Scotland

Cancer treatment in Scotland appears to favour women over men, who face longer waits and delays in treatment, a leading doctor has warned in The Scotsman newspaper.

Dr David Love, a GP in Peebles, who is also joint chairman of the British Medical Association's GPs committee said: 'When I looked at the cancer waiting figures, there seemed quite a stark difference between male and female cancers. Some areas had 100% with breast cancer, but at the same time 50 to 60%t with urological cancers.'

Scotland's statistics on cancer waiting times show that 88.2% of breast-cancer patients are starting treatment within the two-month target from urgent referral by their doctor. But waiting-time for targets in urological cancers, including prostate and testicular cancers, hit only 67.5%.

Dr Love told The Scotsman that men might be the unintended victims of high-profile campaigns on, for example, breast-cancer. 'I think it's related to the fact that where you have got very effective pressure groups and charities who are pushing for better treatment for cancer for women, you are seeing better results. Urological cancers don't have the same pressure groups working to push for better treatment, and where they do it is less well-known about.

'This suggests performance is being driven by the presence or absence of a pressure group. I don't think that's right. It concerns me that there is no group pushing for men's health in the same way.'