Kidney Cancer UK welcomes the publication of the National Cancer Plan for England by the Health Secretary, Rt Hon Wes Streeting MP, who is himself a survivor of kidney cancer. The ambitions on survival are challenging, which will require survival across all types of cancer to be improved.
Being cancer-free or living well with cancer are the two ultimate objectives of diagnosis, treatment and care. However, we are particularly pleased to see the emphasis in the Plan on patient experiences, holistic care to improve quality of life and on reducing unwarranted variation and health inequalities.
Chief Executive Officer Malcolm Packer said: “We believe this is an opportunity to address the longstanding needs of people who have a rare or less common cancer, such as kidney cancer. It is vital that patients are included in the development and introduction of the new initiatives on which the success of the Plan relies. We call on policymakers at national and local level to ensure this happens.”
Our latest national survey of patient experiences of kidney cancer services (recently launched on Monday, 2nd February 2026) illustrates the underlying need for this new National Cancer Plan to be delivered. The following are three examples.
Faster diagnosis: The massive investment in additional diagnostic tests announced in the Plan is welcome.
- In our survey, one in five patients were diagnosed with kidney cancer at stage 4 (i.e. their cancer had spread from their kidney to other parts of the body).[1]
- Although it can add two weeks to the diagnostic wait, biopsy is often the definitive test for kidney cancer. Although a proportion of people will not need a biopsy, our survey found that two thirds (65.7%) said they were not offered one. This is much higher than expected and suggests biopsies are being under used.[1]
However, in addition to funding a greater volume of existing tests, and new ways of conducting existing tests more rapidly, significant investment is needed in developing new tests for cancers that currently do not have them. This includes tests to support the earlier identification of suspected cancer and GP referral for specialist investigation. Our survey shows this need:
- In the period before referral for diagnosis, more than one in four patients (26.3%) were initially diagnosed with a different condition.[1]
- Over half (54%) of people with kidney cancer, their diagnosis was an incidental finding when they were having tests for a different unrelated condition.[1]
Increase in robotic-assisted surgery: The increase in the number of procedures announced in the Plan includes all surgeries from hip replacements to heart surgery as well as cancer operations. More detail on the increase in cancer operations is needed, together with how these will be apportioned to different types of cancer.
- In our survey, 30% of patients said they had robotic-assisted surgery.[1]
Treatment at specialist centres: More specialist centres should mean more Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNSs) allowing all patients to have a named CNS. This not the case at present:
- In our survey, more than 1 in 5 patients did not have a named CNS.[1]
The National Cancer Plan’s proposes centralised national approval of new technologies, which would presumably be available through specialist centres. If the full benefits of this are to be realised, national approval must be matched by a commitment to uptake by the NHS. There are already examples of
References
[1] Twelfth Annual Kidney Cancer Patient Survey 2025. Kidney Cancer UK. https://www.kcuk.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/KCUK_Report_25_WEB-FINAL.pdf
[2] Incidence for common cancers. Cancer Statistics Data Hub. Cancer Research UK https://crukcancerintelligence.shinyapps.io/CancerStatsDataHub/_w_3fcbaae1cc564876b67093aefabcecde/_w_a3f5f2563b1946cfb4ac68cfdd7d1ac4/?_inputs_&nav=%22Incidence%20Common%20Cancers%22&app_select_CancerSite=%22Kidney%22&app_select_Country=%22United%20 Kingdom%22 Last viewed Dec 2025
[3] Kidney cancer incidence, Cancer Statistics Data Hub Cancer Research UK https://crukcancerintelligence.shinyapps.io/CancerStatsDataHub/_w_7e3652d1a0344a1f83ad3a260f52ef1d/?_inputs_&nav=%22Incidence%20Breakdowns%20and%20Trends%22&app_select_CancerSite=%22Kidney%22&app_select_Country=%22United%20Kingdom%22 Last viewed Dec. 2025
[4] Kidney cancer mortality – Trends over time. Cancer Statistics Data Hub. Cancer Research UK https://crukcancerintelligence.shinyapps.io/CancerStatsDataHub/_w_7e3652d1a0344a1f83ad3a260f52ef1d/?_inputs_&nav=%22Mortality%20Breakdowns%20and%20Trends%22&app_select_CancerSite=%22Kidney%22&app_select_Country=%22United%20Kingdom%22 Last viewed Dec. 2025
[5] Kidney Cancer Statistics. Cancer Statistics Data Hub. Cancer Research UK. https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/health-professional/cancer-statistics/statistics-by-cancer-type/kidney-cancer Last viewed Dec 2025.
