It is estimated that there are almost 3.5 million people living with cancer in the UK and on average someone is diagnosed with cancer at least every 75 seconds (UK). In this podcast Dr Thomas Round talks to Professor Willie Hamilton, a Professor of Primary Care Cancer Research about the updates to cancer detection in primary care. They reflect on why primary care is so important in this area, the changing epidemiology in cancer and cancer in younger people including the increase in colorectal cancer. They discuss the changes in cancer screening e.g. cervical cancer (introduction of home screening) and bowel cancer (age reduction and Faecal immunochemical test (FIT) thresholds), Positive Predictive Value (PPV), symptomatic presentations, difficult to diagnose cancers and atypical presentations. They also offer top tips for everyday practice and signpost to useful resources. ReferencesBest4: Screening for oesophageal health problemsNHS Galleri Trail: Detecting cancer earlyJess’s Rule: Three strikes and we rethinkERICA Study. Prof. Willie HamiltonSave T, Neal R D, Round T. A multi-cancer early detection (MCED) test: clinical update for GPs. British Journal of General Practice 2024; 74 (745): 380-382. Wiering B, Mounce LTA, Price SJ, et al. The impact of morbidity burden on cancer diagnosis; a retrospective cohort study in England. Cancer Epidemiol. 2026 Feb 27;Further readingRCGP eLearning courses on:Behaviour change and cancer preventionBloating and Other Abdominal Symptoms: Could it be Ovarian Cancer?Breast Cancer Screening - The EssentialsCancer detection in primary careColorectal CancerEarly diagnosis of cancer in young adultsLung CancerPancreatic Cancer: Early Diagnosis in General PracticePrimary cancer care toolkitProstate Cancer: Early Diagnosis in General PracticeCancer care | One Day Essentials | REWIND (available until 26.05.26)RCGP Podcast FeedbackYour feedback plays a crucial role in helping us improve the CPD products and services we offer. We would be grateful if you could please complete our short RCGP Podcast Survey, which will take no more than 5 minutes to complete.