Cancer. The Big C. The word or phrase most feared by patients all over the world which, not so long ago, was tantamount to a death sentence.

However people in Britain are living longer due to major advances in public health, and what was once a terminal illness is now a manageable, chronic condition - as a result of research and clinical trials being carried out in Britain, particularly in Birmingham.

But such pioneering work could be pointless if the Government does not start planning for the future of cancer services beyond 2010.It's a point Professor Alex Markham, Cancer Research UK's chief executive, is very keen to make.

Prof Markham said: "Birmingham and the Midlands have made a unique contribution to the way research has changed our approach to cancer.

"In south Warwickshire, a pilot scheme was set up to test whether screening for bowel cancer would save lives.

"Now, as a result of that pilot, there are about 1,000 people walking around Coventry and Rugby who, had early bowel cancer or its precursors detected, treated and are now "cured". On that basis we launched the scheme nationwide.

"There are lots of examples like this across the Midlands but if we do not have a coordinated plan this kind of work may not continue in the region, and as a result not be rolled out nationally.

"Work being done here could be scaled back if funding is not formally committed to it.

Without a new plan, I fear the seamless integrity between the current and the new will cease."

He added: "This is best illustrated in Birmingham at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital where people are being treated with chemotherapy, radiotherapy or having surgery.

"They've set up a massive operation that studies them, their disease, the way we treat it and looking at how to make constant improvements to that, and whether these things will actually be improvements - but we need the plan to reflect this state of affairs.

"Cancer Research UK is delighted to be working with The Birmingham Post to highlight the need for a new plan because we think the people of the Midlands are smart enough to see the justification."

While waiting times and delivery of cancer services have improved greatly in the past six years, more needs to be done on educating the public on preventable cancers.

Last week a report by the Information Centre for Health and Social Care revealed nearly one in five deaths in people aged over 35 are due to smoking.

Out of 501,000 adult deaths in England and Wales in 2004, an estimated 89,000 (18 per cent) were caused by smoking - of which 40,000 were due to cancer.

The first Cancer Plan focused on the importance of prevention of cancer, one of the consequences of which was the success of anti-smoking legislation, which comes into effect in England next year.

Prof Markham said: "In 2005/06 I think those diagnosed with cancer have been successfully treated, that's the message I want to get across.

"But we're still in the dark ages with lung cancer, the five-year survival rate for that is only six per cent, which is why I am very passionate about the ban on smoking in public places, which will come into effect next year.

"One in three cancers are caused by smoking and it's not just lung cancer - it's cancer of the mouth, oesophagus, digestive tract, colon, and breast.

"The reason the original Cancer Plan put so much focus on smoking cessation is that for lung cancer there is no Herceptin, no Tamoxifen, there are none of the drugs we use with enormous success on breast cancer."

He also warned that more Herceptin-style drugs could breakthrough in the foreseeable future, and each one could land the NHS with a potential bill of £100 million a year.

"This is absolutely why we need a new Cancer Plan. I don't think the PCT mechanism of funding potentially life-saving treatments is a particularly good way of going about it, it's not working for the patients," added Prof Markham.

"They need some help when they're being confronted with a tidal wave of requests for more treatments and the introduction of more new drugs.

"New drugs like Herceptin are often going to be very exciting because they're more effective and are less toxic than previous cancer treatments, so there will always be huge pressure to rush our fences on this. But we've got to maintain balance, we don't want any more thalidomide incidents."