New UK lung cancer screening programme to catch 9,000 cases sooner

Programme will focus on those between the ages of 55 and 74

A health worker looks at the results of a lung scan, part of the NHS Targeted Lung Health Check Programme. PA

Up to 9,000 cases of lung cancer could be caught sooner or prevented under a screening programme that is set to be introduced nationally.

Under the plans, patient records for those aged 55 to 74 will be used to identify current or former smokers, and the initiative could provide about a million scans and earlier treatment.

The programme, backed by a recommendation from the UK National Screening Committee, could provide “a lifeline to thousands of families across the country”, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said.

Patients will have their risk of cancer assessed based on their smoking history and other factors – and those considered high risk will be invited for specialist scans every two years.

The initiative is set to cost £270 million ($343m) annually once fully established.

It is estimated that 325,000 people will be newly eligible for a first scan each year, with 992,000 scans expected annually in total.

The Department of Health and Social Care said the first phase will reach 40 per cent of the eligible population by March 2025, with the aim of 100 per cent cover by March 2030 following the programme's introduction.

The move comes after a successful earlier phase in which about 70 per cent of the screenings took place in mobile units in convenient sites such as supermarket car parks.

This helped to ensure easy access and focused on more deprived areas where people are four times more likely to smoke.

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The first phase of the lung health check programme by NHS England resulted in more than 2,000 people being detected as having cancer, while 76 per cent were found at an earlier stage, compared to 29 per cent in 2019 outside of the programme.

In total, during the initial phase, about 900,000 people were invited for checks, with 375,000 risk assessments made and 200,000 scans carried out.

“And while we focus on cutting waiting lists in the short term, we must also look to tackle some of the long-term challenging facing the NHS, including lung cancer which costs 35,000 lives every year,” Mr Sunak said.

“Rolling out screening to high-risk 55 to 74 year olds will save lives by detecting up to 9,000 lung cancers a year at an early stage.

“The NHS has treated record numbers of cancer patients over the last two years, with cancer being diagnosed at an earlier stage more often and survival rates improving across almost all types of cancer.”

Smoking causes 72 per cent of lung cancers, around 35,000 people die and 48,000 people are diagnosed with lung cancer each year.

It has one of the lowest survival rates of all cancers, which is largely attributed to lung cancer being diagnosed at a late stage when treatment is much less likely to be effective.

Treating cancer early improves people’s chance of survival – with 60 per cent of people currently surviving stage one cancer for five years or more and 4 per cent at stage four.

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Anyone assessed as being at high risk of lung cancer will be referred to have a low dose Computed Tomography scan, with a diagnosis and treatment to follow if needed.

Anyone whose scans are negative will be reinvited for further scans every 24 months, until they pass the upper age limit.

“Through our screening programme we are now seeing more diagnoses at stage one and stage two in the most deprived communities, which is both a positive step and a practical example of how we are reducing health inequalities,” Health Secretary Steve Barclay said.

“Rolling this out further will prolong lives by catching cancer earlier and reducing the levels of treatment required not just benefitting the patient but others waiting for treatment.”

NHS chief executive Amanda Pritchard said identifying lung cancer early could save lives “and the expansion of the NHS’s targeted lung health check programme is another landmark step forward in our drive to find and treat more people living with this devastating disease at the earliest stage”.

“The NHS lung trucks programme is already delivering life-changing results, with people living in the most deprived areas now more likely to be diagnosed at an earlier stage, giving them a better chance of successful treatment.”

Paula Chadwick, chief executive of Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation, welcomed the move as screening “allows us to get ahead of this awful disease for the first time, catching it at the earliest opportunity – often before symptoms even start – and treating it with an aim to cure”.

“Now, with this announcement, many more lives will be saved, making today a very good day in our mission to beat the UK’s biggest cancer killer,” she said.

Hazel Cheeseman, the deputy chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health, said “targeted lung cancer screening with support to stop smoking at its heart will help prevent, as well as treat lung cancer, still the leading cause of cancer deaths”.