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Be Clear on Cancer

Also: BCoC

Public Health England and Department of Health campaigns (regional from 2010, national from 2011) that told people the early signs of specific cancers, such as blood in pee or a cough lasting three weeks, and to see their GP.

Years
2010–now
Country
United Kingdom
Topic
Cancer screening
Asks people to
RecognizeSeek help
Strategy
Simple instruction
Channel
OutdoorPrintRadioTV
Audience
AdultsOlder adults
Adults over 50 in England.

Evidence

ObservationalMixed

Synthesis of 11 national campaigns 2012-2016 (Lai 2021): GP visits for the target symptoms rose for 9 of 10 campaigns and urgent cancer referrals for 9 of 11. More cancers were diagnosed than expected for 8 of 10, with more early-stage diagnoses for 4 of 10. No effect on survival.

Sponsor (who paid)

  • Public Health England / Department of Health Foreign government, funder and creator

Credits (who made it)

Not recorded yet.

Sources

  1. Lai J et al. Reviewing the impact of 11 national Be Clear on Cancer public awareness campaigns, England, 2012 to 2016: A synthesis of published evaluation results. Int J Cancer 2021;148(5):1172-1182 evaluation · 2021 · DOI 10.1002/ijc.33277 · PMID 32875560
  2. Power E et al. Change in public awareness of symptoms and perceived barriers to seeing a doctor following Be Clear on Cancer campaigns in England. Br J Cancer 2015;112 Suppl 1(Suppl 1):S22-6 evaluation · 2015 · DOI 10.1038/bjc.2015.32 · PMID 25734386
  3. Merriel SWD et al. A prospective evaluation of the fourth national Be Clear on Cancer 'Blood in Pee' campaign in England. Eur J Cancer Care (Engl) 2022;31(5):e13606 evaluation · 2022 · DOI 10.1111/ecc.13606 · PMID 35570375
  4. Torrance N et al. Abdominal cancer symptoms: Evaluation of the impact of a regional public awareness campaign. Eur J Cancer Care 2021 evaluation · 2021 · DOI 10.1111/ecc.13500 · PMID 34382254
  5. Eberhardt J et al. Impact of the third national 'Be Clear on Cancer' Breast Cancer in Women over 70 Campaign on general practitioner attendance and referral, diagnosis rates and prevalence awareness. Eur J Cancer Care (Engl) 2022 evaluation · 2022 · DOI 10.1111/ecc.13583 · PMID 35384107
  6. Hughes-Hallett A et al. Assessing the impact of mass media public health campaigns. Be Clear on Cancer 'blood in pee': a case in point. BJU Int 2016 evaluation · 2016 · DOI 10.1111/bju.13205 · PMID 26072663
  7. Siau K et al. The 2015 upper gastrointestinal 'Be Clear on Cancer' campaign: its impact on gastroenterology services and malignant and premalignant diagnoses. Frontline Gastroenterol 2017 evaluation · 2017 · DOI 10.1136/flgastro-2017-100820 · PMID 29067155
  8. Peacock O et al. 'Be Clear on Cancer': the impact of the UK National Bowel Cancer Awareness Campaign. Colorectal Dis 2013 evaluation · 2013 · DOI 10.1111/codi.12220 · PMID 23656572
  9. Bethune R et al. Did the 'Be Clear on Bowel Cancer' public awareness campaign pilot result in a higher rate of cancer detection?. Postgrad Med J 2013 evaluation · 2013 · DOI 10.1136/postgradmedj-2012-131014 · PMID 23572594

Research notes

Created 2026-10-22 by literature mining (PubMed/OpenAlex); evidence level, outcome and findings are paraphrased from the evaluation abstracts, full texts not read. No credits: no page naming an agency was checked. Start years from the synthesis abstract (run since 2010). Torrance 2021 added 2026-10-22 (openalex-deep queue; DOI checked on Crossref and PMID via NCBI esummary 2026-10-22; abstract confirms it is a PHE Be Clear on Cancer regional abdominal campaign in England): recognition 35% vs 24% in control area; GP attendances for abdominal symptoms +5.8%; urgent referrals +7.6% vs 0.05% in control. Evidence unchanged (single regional pilot; the 11-campaign synthesis remains the main source). Evaluation sources added 2026-10-22 (citation snowballing / helpline pass): Eberhardt 2022, Hughes-Hallett 2016, Siau 2017, Peacock 2013, Bethune 2013; evidence level and outcome unchanged.

Record cases/uk-be-clear-on-cancer.json, updated 2026-10-22· Link to this campaign