GM Cancer News

A teacher from Greater Manchester is urging others to trust their instincts and seek medical advice at the first sign of unusual symptoms after her own delayed visit to the GP led to a stage four cancer diagnosis. Sharon is now urging people to visit their GP if they experience symptoms - like she did - which could be ovarian cancer. Sharon Withington, 54, is a PE teacher at Stockport Grammar School. She first noticed a slightly swollen stomach in April 2024 but assumed it was weight gain. Fit, active, and eating healthily, she [...]

People in Bury and Radcliffe will be offered a Lung Health Check in Autumn 2025 as part of the Greater Manchester Lung Cancer Screening Programme. The lung health checks will be available to people who are current OR former cigarette or shisha smokers aged 55-74 and based at the following groups of GP practices (Primary Care Networks): Bury PCN: Townside Surgery - BL9 0SN Ramsbottom Medical Practice - BL0 9DD Radcliffe Medical Practice - M26 2SP Monarch Medical Centre - M26 2QZ Knowsley Medical Centre - BL9 0ST Walmersley Road Medical Practice - BL9 6DX Huntley [...]

People in Bolton who are current or former smokers are being offered an ‘MOT for their lungs’ this September. The NHS will be offering free lung health checks which can help find lung cancer at an early stage when it is much more treatable to help save lives. The quick checks – which will take place on board a mobile clinic parked in a community location - are for people who smoke or who have previously smoked cigarettes or shisha and who are aged 55-74 years. The checks are currently available for eligible people registered with [...]

Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance has been shortlisted for two awards at the prestigious 2025 HSJ Awards recognising our innovation in early diagnosis and cancer diagnostics.   The Alliance is shortlisted for two HSJ Awards, including NHS Communications of the Year Award The Alliance is nominated for NHS Communications Initiative of the Year Award for the work rolling out two mobile units under the “This Van Can” banner to raise awareness about the importance of early diagnosis for ovarian and bowel cancer. Alliance staff are also in the running for the Modernising Diagnostics Award for [...]

Greater Manchester has become the first area in England to diagnose more than 1,000 people with lung cancer earlier thanks to innovative NHS Lung Cancer Screening. Tom Harrison who has benefitted from a Lung Health Check with his wife Trish The screening specifically targets people who are at an increased risk of lung cancer to help improve early diagnosis of lung cancer. These people are offered a lung health check which takes place onboard a mobile clinic, often parked in supermarket car parks In Greater Manchester, almost 130,000 people have [...]

A GREATER MANCHESTER man who builds turbochargers for anything from fast cars to trucks and has thanked the NHS for rebuilding him after cancer. Now he is back building turbochargers to power sports cars and helping to speed up diagnosis for other cancer patients. When Ben Garlick, now 54, from Denton, had a persistent cough, he thought it must be COVID-19. But when his cough wouldn’t go away, he went to his GP and was sent for tests at Tameside Hospital. It was here he got the devastating news he had cancer of the voicebox, also [...]

A new study involving Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance has opened in Manchester which could improve screening and early detection of lung cancer for high-risk Hodgkin lymphoma survivors, following a £1.3 million funding award. The University of Manchester project has been awarded the grant through the NHS Cancer Programme Innovation Open Call with support from SBRI Healthcare (Small Business Research Initiative) as part of a new, unique national partnership which could save lives and improve quality of life.   Researchers in Manchester will implement an innovative lung cancer risk assessment tool and an adapted care pathway [...]

A new AI-tool which helps identify men who need prostate cancer treatment most urgently is being launched by Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance at hospitals in the region. Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance is one of five cancer alliances to share a £2.25 million cash injection announced by the Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) Healthcare to fund the scheme. The work was commissioned and funded by the NHS Cancer Programme, with the support of SBRI Healthcare and the Accelerated Access Collaborative (AAC). The funding will support the roll out of Lucida Medical’s AI technology, Prostate Intelligence [...]

People in parts of Stockport who are current or former smokers are being offered a free lung health check this summer. The NHS will be offering lung cancer screening which can help find lung cancer at an early stage when it is much more treatable to help save lives. The quick checks – which will take place on board a mobile clinic parked at Heaton Lane car park, Heaton Lane, Stockport SK4 1AR - are for people who smoke or who have previously smoked cigarettes or shisha and who are aged 55-74 years. The checks are [...]

A musician, who found himself getting so tired he was regularly falling asleep during the day, was shocked to discover he had bowel cancer. Richard Sanderson Xerri, 45, a dad-of-two, said he didn’t go to his doctor as he didn’t think his tiredness was serious enough to bother a GP. But after playing at a wedding and being extremely exhausted the next day, his wife Eirian took him to a walk-in clinic which led to a diagnosis that saved his life. Now the couple are sharing their experience to help others understand and seek medical [...]