A HAMPSHIRE MP is throwing his political weight behind calls for much-needed improvements in treating one of the country’s mostly deadly cancers.

Eastleigh MP Mike Thornton is pledging support behind the recommendations spelled out in a Parliamentary Inquiry report.

It concluded that NHS treatment for pancreatic cancer is not patient-focused or well run.

The cancer currently has the lowest survival rate of the 21 most common cancers, and there has hardly been any improvement in survival rates from the disease in last 40 years.

The disease is set to overtake breast cancer as the UK’s fourth biggest cancer killer by 2030.

The report, ‘Time to Change the Story: a plan of action for pancreatic cancer’, sets out 12 recommendations including the need to raise awareness of symptoms and for a whole-sale review of GP’s referral pathways and ways of diagnosing.

It also calls for a comprehensive audit to understand why everyone diagnosed may not have the same high quality care.

Mr Thornton said: “I was shocked by the findings of this report, and am delighted to lend my support to this issue.

“Pancreatic cancer survival rates are too low and I back the report’s recommendations for both improving survival rates and raising awareness.”

The UK does not currently have a screening programme for people who are at higher risk of developing pancreatic cancer.