Leukaemia: Diagnosis

It is a priority for the Government to support the National Health Service to diagnose cancer, including blood cancers such leukaemia, as early and quickly as possible to improve outcomes.

To tackle late diagnoses leukaemia, the National Health Service is implementing non-specific symptom pathways for patients who present with symptoms such as weight loss and fatigue, which do not clearly align to a tumour type. Blood cancers are one of the most common cancer types diagnosed through these pathways.

The NHS will diagnose leukaemia earlier and will treat it faster. In April 2026, the Department announced its plan to open four new community diagnostic centres during 2026/27. The Department also announced that a further 32 existing centres will be expanded and enhanced. The 36 centres are backed by a £237 million Government investment.

To improve survival, the National Cancer Plan for England commits to reducing the number of rare cancers, such as leukaemia, diagnosed in emergency settings. The Department and NHS England will address this by publishing regular data on the number of these cancers diagnosed in emergency settings, as a proxy for late or ineffective diagnosis. Adding this to the basket of early diagnosis metrics will help incentivise systems and providers to focus on earlier diagnosis of blood cancers.