The survey asked 2,012 U.K. adults in May 2024 about their healthcare fears.
The survey found seven in 10 respondents fear being diagnosed with cancer too late and 52% fret about the impact of a cancer diagnosis on loved ones. Four in 10 respondents worry about access to treatment and 36% are concerned about treatment side effects.
When asked what would make a cancer diagnosis less fearful, 60% said knowing that the form of cancer is treatable and 51% said knowing physicians are better at catching cancer early enough to treat. Thirty-two percent also said knowing many facilities research ways to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer eases their fear.
Older respondents were less fearful of a cancer diagnosis than younger ones: 14% of people over 65 expressed fear of a diagnosis, compared with26% of 18- to 24-year-olds and 29% of 25- to 34-year-olds.
When presented with undesirable future events, only one was more worrisome than a cancer diagnosis: death of a loved one at 72%. A cancer diagnosis was more worrisome than nuclear war (56%), terrorism (53%) or being the victim of a crime (52%).
Fifty-five percent of respondents favored using AI to speed up cancer research for new treatments, 47% to help physicians diagnose cancer and 41% to help physicians to decide what treatment would work best.
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