Lung cancer survival rate stung by late diagnosis

The UK Lung Cancer Coalition has revealed that people with lung cancer are dying after being diagnosed late in A&E because their GP missed signs of the disease.

A report by the charity found that as many as 56 per cent of people in some parts of England who get lung cancer are only diagnosed when they visit A&E. They are five times more likely to die within a year than those whose condition has been identified either by their GP or through the NHS cancer screening programme.

Lung cancer is the third commonest form of cancer in the UK and the biggest cancer killer, claiming 35,000 lives a year. However, the report suggests that, GPs often fail to diagnose cases of lung cancer until it is too late to treat effectively or miss them altogether, leading patients to seek help at A&E.

The report, Early Diagnosis Matters: Making the Case for the Early and Rapid Diagnosis of Lung Cancer, lays out 10 key recommendations for diagnosing lung cancer earlier in order to increase lung cancer survival. These include: the National Lung Cancer Audit must continue uninterrupted and better define the nature and potential causes of variation at regional and local level; public awareness and action campaigns focused on lung cancer should be funded every year; stop smoking services should be encouraged to use their contact with smokers to increase awareness of the symptoms of lung cancer and the value of early detection; the new 28-day cancer Faster Diagnosis Standard and National Lung Cancer Pathway must be comprehensively rolled-out across England; and the wider healthcare community, including nurses and pharmacists, must be able to refer someone who they suspect might have lung cancer for a Chest X-ray.

Richard Steyn, chair of the UKLCC, said: “There is no single ‘silver bullet’ when it comes to increasing rates of early diagnosis in lung cancer. However, through consistent, wide ranging and coordinated efforts from across the lung cancer community, we can reduce late diagnosis, particularly through emergency presentation, and see a difference in the outcomes achieved across the UK.”