Why are one in four cancer patients only diagnosed when they end up in A&E? UK media

media
 
"...... She had been back and forward to her GP six or seven times in the five months since her persistent tummy pain and bloating started in January 2010.
In an interview before she died, she said: ‘It started with a niggly pain in my lower abdomen — but it came and went so I took painkillers and tried to ignore it. When it became more persistent I went to my GP.
‘She thought I was menopausal and ran hormone tests, but they proved negative. Then I was prescribed drugs for excess stomach acid — as my GP said I may have an ulcer — but the drugs had no effect.
‘As the months dragged on my symptoms worsened: the pain became more frequent and intense. I began to feel more bloated and full, too. I couldn’t face food and also had alternating diarrhoea and constipation......