Cancer 'alarm bells must be listened to'

Three hundred more patients might survive cancer each year in Wales if services performed to the European average, a leading specialist has said.

That could be an estimated 600 lives saved if Wales ranked with the best.

Tom Crosby, medical director of the Wales Cancer Network, said there needed to be "a relentless drive to diagnose cancers earlier".

He wants the way services are delivered to be transformed or he fears they could "break" and "fall over".

Becky Thomas, a nurse from Merthyr Tydfil, had vague symptoms when she saw her GP but was only diagnosed with bowel cancer later when she confided in a colleague in hospital.

She is now in remission but says patients must be listened to more.