01/03/2016 BBC Wales Today

Our top stories: Catching cancer quicker in Wales.

Two research projects are launched to speed up diagnosis

And on St David's Day you tell us what matters to you when it comes

to winning your vote in the Welsh election.

Why does Wales perform worse than similar countries when it comes

That's one of the questions a new research project,

described as the first of its kind in the world,

The study, along with another looking at new treatments for bowel

cancer, are being given ?1.6 million by the charity

Here's our Health Correspondent Owain Clarke.

Around 19,000 people were diagnosed with cancer in Wales last year

Survival rates are worse here than in many other developed countries.

This woman considers herself to be exceptionally lucky.

She spotted signs of her own cancer early

You go in because you think you've seen something but you are not sure,

and within 15 minutes you're lying on a bed and doctors are talking

And suddenly you hear for the first time, cancer,

It is just the most surreal experience, because you are just

But the earlier the cancer is spotted, the better the results.

But there are concerns GPs can be too slow to send patients

Cancer Research Wales is giving a project in Bangor,

led by a GP, in Bangor ?800,000 to find out.

They are stuck between a rock and a hard place.

They are under pressure to minimise health service costs and not make

inappropriate referrals or organise expensive testing but on the other

hand there is a challenge that they have to face up

people who have symptoms of early cancer,

and referring them quicker and getting the right investigations.

Cancer Research Wales was formed when a group of professors

at this hospital in Cardiff joined forces.

It has grown substantially over the decades and now the charity

spends ?1 million a year on 50 Wales-based cancer research

The ?1.6 million extra it is spending this year

is being described as an unprecedented boost

?800,000 will be used to develop ways of diagnosing cancer earlier.

And another ?800,000 will be spent trying to develop new therapies

to tackle a big killer, bowel cancer.

It is the second most common type of cancer in Wales.

A team in Cardiff is spearheading efforts to get the body's immune

system to target and destroy cancer cells.

We want to make treatments available for everyone,

whether you develop colorectal cancer in the third World

To do this, we can identify common targets, which we find

Around 9000 people die of cancer each year in Wales,

yet we have some of the lowest survival rates in Western Europe.

It is hoped that this research will help narrow the gap.

Some breaking news. In the last few minutes a former lifeguard has been

sentenced to 50 years in prison for raping a ten-year-old girl in the

United States. Gareth Vincent Hall from near Caernarfon admitted

travelling to Oregon to rape the girl he met online.

It looks like health will be the biggest single issue that

election this May. to the polls in the Welsh Assembly

But BBC Wales' annual St David's Day poll suggests that there's

still some confusion over who runs the Welsh NHS.

With those and other findings, our political reporter

With the Assembly Election on the horizon, BBC Wales' annual

St David's Day poll has been gauging the political temperature.

Our survey suggests one third of people say that health

would be their top issue when they cast their votes

18% put jobs at the top the list, and 14% said immigration

Despite voters placing health as the top electoral issue,

our poll suggests that confusion persists about who runs the Welsh

NHS, because despite 65% of people saying, correctly,

that it is run by health ministers in Cardiff,

just under one third were mistaken in thinking that it was run

It is interesting that we have a slight increase in understanding

that the Welsh government makes the key critical decisions around

health in Wales, and I suspect that is as a result of some

of the quite vitriolic attacks on the performance

and the governance in the NHS in Wales

that have come from the UK Government.

Celebrating Wales' National Day, from Downing Street,

How do people feel about the transfer of power

Our poll indicated that 43% of voters would like the Welsh Assembly

to have more powers, 30% thought it had sufficient

current powers, 13% would like it abolished completely,

and 6% supported independence for Wales.

Another question we asked was, can you name these four people?

These are the Welsh Police and Crime Commissioners,

elected to ensure that police forces are run properly

but 89% of our respondents could not name many of them.

I know that one chap, from Newport, Gwent.

It is no surprise to some given that just under 15% of people in Wales

voted in the first elections back in 2012.

There was no significant awareness rasing of the role

That needs to be embraced now, to make people aware of exactly

what commissioners do now and what their function can be

Elections for policing Crime Commissioners will be held

on the same day as the Assembly Election, on 5th May.

St David's Day greetings have been sent from space.

The British astronaut Tim Peake posted this image of Wales

on Twitter, taken from the International Space Station.

Croeso on board the International Space Station.

From leading the SPIRE instrument on the Herschel spacecraft.

To providing most of the glass for the solar panels

here on the International Space Station, Wales is an important part

From up here, it's all so beautiful looking down on Snowdon,

So, I'd like to wish you all a very happy Saint David's Day.

Back on Earth one football result for you tonight.

Football, and Newport County were beaten comfortably by Crawley

tonight, a 2-0 home victory for the English side.

It means Warren Feeney's side remain eight points above the relegation

Warnings of ice and snow heading our way, Sue Charles

Good evening. 1st March, St David's Day, also the start of

meteorological spring, but we're in for a real taste of winter again

tomorrow with some snow and strong winds.

This cold front pushes through tonight.

The air turns colder behind it and then these next weather systems

are likely to bring wintry showers

Clear for a time overnight but colder air returns.

Snow likely on higher ground and an ice

risk too, with strong winds making a real wind-chill.

Could be heavy showers early tomorrow.

One to four centimetres possible, especially

across North Wales, and a wintry mix of rain and sleet and snow showers

possible along this front as it moves south east across the UK.

Some brighter spells between the showers,

Just four degrees Celsius in north-east Scotland.

Nine degrees Celsius in the milder air in South

A warning of strong winds across West Wales tomorrow.

More north-westerly as well, making it colder.

Highs of five degrees Celsius in Wrexham, eight in Pembrokeshire.

Tomorrow night winds not quite as strong,

Generally turning a bit dryer overnight but frost in rural spots.

Respite on Thursday, a span of drier weather before this

next front pushes in from the Atlantic later on.

A quieter and brighter day but turning cloudy with some rain later.

It may be the first week of spring but a return to winter

tomorrow and a fairly changeable week to come.

More on all of our stories on the website.

From all of us on the programme, good night.