Suffolk MP Jo Churchill says campaigning for better cancer services was one of the “galvanising forces” behind her career in politics.

She has beaten the disease twice herself and now hopes to use her influence in Parliament to help other sufferers.

The mother-of-four says the hardest part of having cancer was its effect on the family. She already had two young children when she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer at 31.

“I was lucky it was spotted early,” she said. “And it was a defined tumour in a very defined area.”

She had a thyroidectomy, beat the disease and just a short time later gave birth to twins. “They certainly helped take my mind off it and I just got on with things,” she added.

Years later, in her mid 40s, she was dealt a second blow when she learned she had breast cancer.

“That was more difficult for the people who loved me,” she said.

“We had some very far-reaching conversations at the time. But once you know what’s wrong at least you can start fighting it.”

The Bury St Edmunds MP’s comments come after government figures on how cancer survival rates have improved across the country between 1998 and 2013 revealed a postcode lottery in patient outcomes.

The figures, which show particularly strong results for the West Suffolk Clinical Commissioning Group region, were produced as part of a five-year plan on cancer services, which has involved input from the All Parliamentary Group on Cancer, of which Mrs Churchill is a member.

The MP backed comments made by other cancer survivors, health commissioners and charities, saying “early diagnosis is the key” to improved survival rates, highlighting the poorer outcomes for patients who present in hospital, by which point the disease is often advanced.

“If you are suffering with a cough for a few weeks, go and get checked; if you are a woman, check your breasts,” she said.

“All these things are quite simple. They are not fail safe, none of these things ever are, but the earlier you go and get checked the better it is.”

Her battle with cancer and the campaigning she did afterwards is one of the driving forces behind her political career.

“I doubt I would be here today without the galvanising force it gave me to achieve my ambitions,” she said.

“It was the campaigning that brought me more into the political sphere.

“We had some of the poorest cancer outcomes in Europe and were lagging quite a long way behind other countries. And yet we have some of the best scientists in the world as well as great oncology teams.

“For me, cancer was a journey, not a very pleasant journey but a journey all the same, and I think, as these survival rates get better, it’s important to show that there’s life on the other side.”

Mrs Churchill is full of praise for the medical staff who helped her during her times of need and says the NHS is at its best when dealing with acute care.

She has also highlighted the high standards of medical research in the country, such as the ground-breaking study published last week that could find a cure for cancer using the immune system to target tumours.

In the future, Mrs Churchill claims genealogy, personalised drugs and “big data” will become increasingly important.

“There is a need for us to allow, with proper oversight, the collection of patient data to inform research and drive treatment,” she added.