Is there a local cancer 'Hot Spot'?

3.48.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 15th Apr 2003

There is some concern, reflected in the deliberations of the PCT, that the Twickenham area may be a breast cancer 'hot spot'.

A group of concerned local women who have recently been diagnosed with breast cancer met MP Vincent Cable to discuss how to pursue both the high incidence locally and the poor treatment with very long delays for radiotherapy.

Vincent Cable said he was "appalled to discover that local women are being told to wait six months for radiotherapy treatment at the nearest hospital providing treatment - Charing Cross - as against the official recommended maximum time of two months".

He has asked the hospital to explain the delays given the large amounts of money being put into the cancer plan by the government; "this really is a life or death matter and treatment "

"should not depend on post codes."

He has also asked the Primary Care Trust to investigate further the evidence that incidence is particularly high in this area: "they are saying that this is due to 'affluence' but, frankly, that doesn't seem a very scientific explanation to me. We have always been told in the past that the opposite is true - that middle class women with better diets, less use of cigarettes and more exercise were less vulnerable than women in low income groups. "

"If there is a local problem we need to get to the bottom of it quickly".

Contact Jenny Williams, 234 Staines Road Twickenham, 8898 6779