Toral Shah, Nutritional Scientist, Integrative Oncology and Functional Medicine Practitioner, and Co-Founder of South Asian Supernovas, shared a post on LinkedIn:
“The UK’s new National Cancer Plan gives me hope. As a nutritional scientist, integrative oncology practitioner, researcher, and three-time cancer survivor, I welcome its vision: 75% of patients cancer-free or living well five years post-diagnosis by 2035.
While transformative in personalisation and equity pledges, yet significant gaps remain in nutrition, metabolic health, recurrence prevention, and addressing biases from colonial legacies and socioeconomic inequalities.
I’ve focused on 3 main areas:
- nutrition and lifestyle
- prehabilitation and rehabilitation
- support for marginalised groups/ addressing systemic bias and socio-economic determinants of health.
If charities, NHS, oncology organisations and practitioners work together with researchers and digital health, we could see improved outcomes in cancer surpassing these 2035 aims.”
My thoughts on UK’s National Cancer Plan
The UK’s National Cancer Plan for England, published on 4 February 2026, aims to ensure that by 2035, 75% of patients diagnosed with cancer will be cancer-free or living well five years post-diagnosis, up from 60% projected in 2022. This ambitious strategy emphasises:
- personalised cancer plans for every patient, covering treatment, mental health, employment, and holistic needs like diet and fatigue
- new standards by 2028 for prehabilitation (pre-treatment fitness), rehabilitation, and physical activity
- targeted inequality reduction in deprived areas
- NHS App integration for charity links and prevention advice
- £10 million annual travel support for children and young people. The UK’s new National Cancer Plan gives me hope. As a nutritional scientist, integrative oncology practitioner, researcher, and three-time cancer survivor, I welcome its vision: 75% of patients cancer-free or living well five years post-diagnosis by 2035. While transformative in personalisation and equity pledges, the plan underplays nutrition as medicine, metabolic health and integrative oncology and the needs of cancer thrivers who are still working.
Here is my analysis and thoughts on the new plan – this plan opens doors for integrative oncology, where nutrition and lifestyle supports traditional treatment options alongside complementary care. In my analysis, I will focus on 3 main areas: nutrition and lifestyle, prehabilitation and rehabilitation and health equity particularly in marginalised groups such as ethnic minorities.
This plan is digital-heavy but lacks bold policy (e.g., food environment reform) The personalised approach covers treatment, mental health, diet, fatigue, and employment, with dedicated care leads throughout yet significant gaps remain in nutrition, metabolic health, recurrence prevention, and addressing biases from colonial legacies and socioeconomic inequalities. This plan could pioneer equitable, integrative cancer care if expanded with community voices and evidence-based nutrition—saving lives while honouring diverse healing traditions.
Integration of Nutrition and Lifestyle Advice
The National Cancer Plan acknowledges diet within personalised care plans and promises future prevention advice through the NHS App by 2028, integrating genomic profiles, lifestyle factors, and wearable technology data. While the plan connects lifestyle considerations to physical activity initiatives, employment assistance, and holistic support, it falls short of providing explicit protocols for preventing cancer recurrence.
The plan offers only general nutritional guidance without incorporating specific evidence-based recommendations from the World Cancer Research Fund, such as reducing red meat and sugar consumption while increasing fibre and polyphenol-rich foods. Additionally, the lifestyle components primarily address treatment support rather than comprehensive prevention strategies, overlooking important preventative measures like alcohol limitation policies and breastfeeding promotion.
Evidence-based approaches addressing metabolic health or Mediterranean diets—which research shows can reduce recurrence risk by 20-30% through metabolic pathway modifications—remain unaddressed. The World Cancer Research Fund highlights this as a missed opportunity for embedding prevention strategies. Furthermore, the plan lacks focus on metabolic health markers, making no mention of obesity factors, insulin regulation, despite strong evidence linking metabolic dysfunction to cancer recurrence in survivors.
My Implementation ideas:
- Embed WCRF-aligned personalised nutrition in plans: Use apps for metabolic tracking (e.g., CGM for glucose spikes) and tailor to genetics/culture (e.g., low-GI Caribbean staples).
- Train CNS in integrative nutrition; partner with decolonised practitioners for microbiome-focused diets reducing recurrence.
- Digital tool: AI-driven lifestyle coach in NHS App suggesting fermented foods for gut health in diverse populations
- Survivorship protocols: Annual metabolic screens (HbA1c, lipids) in plans; prescribe personalised anti-recurrence nutrition (e.g., intermittent fasting for autophagy in obese patients).
- Decolonised post-care: Community gardens for ancestral foods (e.g., moringa for African diaspora) to build resilience.
- Research arm: Fund trials on metabolic therapies (e.g., berberine from traditional medicine) for high-risk groups, integrated via reformed National Cancer Board.
Support for Marginalised Groups and Addressing Systemic Bias/Socio-Economic Determinants
Whilst plan explicitly targets health inequalities, particularly in deprived areas, through earlier diagnosis, screening uptake (bowel, breast, cervical, lung), rural/coastal access improvements, and Travel funding aids low-income families, there is No explicit mention of ethnic disparities, socio-economic determinants of health and western biomedical bias. Whilst personalised plans with named care leads and Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNS) promise tailored support, these leads require cultural competency training.
Research shows Black and South Asian populations face higher cancer mortality rates, often receiving diagnoses at later stages and experiencing greater metabolic health challenges such as insulin resistance—issues potentially linked to historical disruptions in traditional food systems. While the plan acknowledges socio-economic factors like poverty and food insecurity, it fails to provide concrete solutions such as funding for nutritional resources in areas with limited fresh food access, overlooking how highly processed foods contribute to elevated cancer risks in disadvantaged communities. The plan also reflects a predominantly Western medical perspective, missing opportunities to incorporate culturally relevant nutritional approaches that draw on traditional African and Asian dietary wisdom rich in natural anti-inflammatory compounds.
Implementation ideas
- Mandate cultural competency training for care leads, co-creating plans with community elders and decolonised nutritionists.
- Pilot community hubs in deprived/postcodes with free, culturally adapted food parcels (e.g., turmeric-based anti-cancer recipes for South Asian groups).
- Track outcomes by ethnicity/SES via NHS App data to expose biases. Holistic plans could incorporate cultural needs if co-designed with communities, aligning with decolonised principles.
- NHS App links to charities at diagnosis enable culturally relevant support.
Prehabilitation and Rehabilitation
By 2028, new guidelines will require both preparation programs before treatment (prehabilitation) and recovery support afterward (rehabilitation), with a strong emphasis on physical activity to help patients heal faster and more completely.
The plan’s emphasis on prehabilitation represents a significant step toward whole-person care, with research demonstrating that combined nutritional and physical preparation before treatment can improve patient outcomes by 30-50% compared to standard care alone. Despite these promising guidelines, the NHS currently lacks sufficient exercise oncology specialists and physiotherapists with dedicated time to implement comprehensive prehabilitation and rehabilitation programs for cancer patients.
Shortcomings: The plan fails to integrate nutritional strategies such as protein supplementation before treatment to preserve muscle mass, and lacks cultural adaptations in its physical activity recommendations as South Asians require more physical activity than the white population, overlooking how different populations might benefit from tailored approaches like yoga-based programs for South Asian patients rather than conventional gym settings.
Implementation ideas:
- Prehab bundles: 4 week preparation regimens combining anti-inflammatory nutrition (such as salmon and other omega-3 sources and sufficient protein) with culturally appropriate physical activities designed for each patient’s mobility level.
- Rehab clinics: Locally accessible rehabilitation centres staffed by rehabilitation and nutrition experts who monitor progress through digital health devices, allowing for personalised adjustments to each patient’s recovery plan.
- Equity focus: Mobile healthcare units services that reach remote communities and underserved populations
The UK national cancer plan would benefit significantly from integrating complementary approaches alongside standard medical care.
When cancer patients actively participate in their care through personalised protocols that combine conventional medicine with supportive therapies (nutrition and supplements, exercise regimens, meditation practices), they typically show improved treatment compliance and recovery outcomes. Research demonstrates that this comprehensive approach reduces post-treatment symptoms, helps manage long-term cancer effects, and potentially enhances survival rates—with major oncology organisations now recommending these integrative methods for managing pain, fatigue, anxiety, and supporting treatment for specific cancers including breast cancer.
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