A community initiative, part of the NHS Targeted Lung Health Check Programme, has seen more than three quarters (77%) of lung cancers caught at either stage one or two, subsequently giving patients a much better chance of beating the illness. This compares to less than a third of cancers caught at either stage one or two in 2018.
These latest figures show people diagnosed with lung cancer at the earliest stage are nearly 20 times more likely to survive for five years, when compared than those whose cancer is caught late.
The new scheme entails various NHS teams travelling the country in trucks, allowing patients access to a “Lung MOT”, which has so far diagnosed approximately 600 people earlier than ever before. The checks are targeting current and ex-smokers especially, with an on-the-spot chest scan for those at highest risk.
Alarming new statistics have shown however that only a third (35%) of patients go to their lung health check when invited by the NHS, prompting a call to arms from NHS cancer chiefs urging those most at risk of lung cancer to come forward as soon as they are invited for a life-saving health check.
The 23 existing truck sites have issued up to 25,000 invitations every month, with a further 20 truck sites expected to go live shortly, which will have the capacity to invite 750,000 more people at increased risk for a check.
As set out in the NHS Elective Recovery Plan earlier this year, the NHS will increase capacity to deliver around 17 million diagnostic tests over a three-year period, as the biggest programme to improve early lung cancer diagnosis in health service history continues.
Dame Cally Palmer, NHS Cancer Director, said: “These lung checks can save lives – by going out into communities we find more people who may not have otherwise realised they have lung cancer – with hundreds already diagnosed and hundreds of thousands due to be invited. The trucks are conveniently located to make them easy to access and it is vital that as soon as you are invited, you take up the offer and come forward for these potentially life-saving checks.”
She added: “The rollout of our Targeted Lung Health Check Programme is a huge step towards reaching our NHS Long Term Plan ambitions of catching thousands more cancers at an earlier stage when they are easier to treat.”
The trucks visit convenient community sites including supermarket car parks, sports, and shopping centres, and carry out targeted lung health checks in areas of the country that have some of the highest death rates from lung cancer.
As well as just scanning for cancer, the trucks have also managed to identify thousands of people with other undiagnosed conditions including respiratory and cardiovascular disease, enabling them to access the treatment they need earlier, and helping to prevent potential hospitalisations.
The NHS Long Term Plan set an aim of approximately 1.5 million people to have been invited for a lung health check across the country by 2024/25 with an estimated 7,700 cases to be caught earlier, in an effort address backlogs built up during the pandemic.
Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid said: “I am committed to radically improve outcomes for cancer patients across the UK and our 10-Year Cancer Plan will set out how we will lead the world in cancer care. We are also supporting the NHS to tackle the backlog with innovations such as community diagnostic centres which are delivering millions more tests, reducing pressure on other services and allowing people to be seen more quickly.”
He concluded: “This community scheme is exactly what we need to ensure hundreds of people get an earlier diagnosis, allowing them to get the treatment they need as soon as possible.”
Although current and ex-smokers aged between 55 and 74 are being targeted especially with advice to help them stop smoking provided, a range of people will be invited, with the NHS urging people with symptoms of lung cancer, to visit their GP straight away and not wait for a lung health check.
