Scotland in the grip of a ‘cancer timebomb’ as cases rocket in a decade

Official figures show Scotland recorded 37,657 new cancer cases in 2024, a 15 per cent rise on a decade earlier, prompting warnings of a "cancer timebomb" and renewed calls for wider screening and action to tackle rising rates. The sharpest increase was in prostate cancer among men, up 50 per cent over ten years and six per cent in the last year alone, a rise partly attributed to greater public awareness following high-profile diagnoses such as that of Olympic cyclist Sir Chris Hoy. Health experts and politicians say the figures highlight both the need for earlier diagnosis and persistent inequalities in who develops cancer.

Of the 2024 total, 19,473 cases were in men and 18,184 in women, with male cases up 340 on the previous year while female cases fell by 519. Over the decade, skin cancer in men rose 28 per cent and breast and colorectal cancers in women each rose 8 per cent, while lung cancer fell 23 per cent in men and 7 per cent in women. People in Scotland's most deprived areas were 26 per cent more likely to be diagnosed with cancer overall between 2020 and 2024, though prostate, breast and skin cancers were more common in the least deprived areas, and lung, colorectal and cervical cancers more common in the most deprived. Opposition politicians, including Scottish Conservative health spokesman Miles Briggs and Scottish Labour's Dame Jackie Baillie, used the figures to criticise the SNP government's record on cancer waiting times and health inequalities.