THOUSANDS of extra cancer cases each year are linked to deprivation in Scotland, a charity found today.

The Cancer Research UK research highlighted the “stark” and “unacceptable” health inequalities facing cancer patients north of the border and called for action to tackle them.

It comes after a recent Public Health Scotland report found that people living in Scotland’s most deprived areas are 74 per cent more likely to die from cancer than those in the least deprived.