Greater Manchester has become the first area in England to diagnose more than 1,000 people with lung cancer earlier thanks to innovative NHS Lung Cancer Screening.
Tom Harrison who has benefitted from a Lung Health Check with his wife Trish
The screening specifically targets people who are at an increased risk of lung cancer to help improve early diagnosis of lung cancer. These people are offered a lung health check which takes place onboard a mobile clinic, often parked in supermarket car parks
In Greater Manchester, almost 130,000 people have now attended the service where they talk to a nurse about their lung health. Over 60,000 people – found to be at higher risk of lung cancer – were referred for a low-dose CT scan onboard a mobile clinic on the very same day.
Most people will get reassurance that everything is OK and, if a current smoker, advice about how to stop smoking. After the first scan, people are invited back every 2 years or sooner based on their results.
But for 1,000 people, the check has resulted in a lung cancer diagnosis, like Tom Harrison a grandad and former marathon runner from Farnworth in Bolton.
The 70-year-old’s check showed he had lung cancer, despite him having no symptoms at all. But he was diagnosed at the earliest possible stage – stage one.
Tom underwent surgery to remove part of his lung and is now cancer free.
He said: “My lung health check saved my life so it’s fantastic news to hear that more than 1,000 lung cancers have now been found through the checks in Greater Manchester. That’s more people who, like me, wouldn’t have known they had lung cancer otherwise who can get treated earlier.”
Almost 80% of the lung cancers identified in Greater Manchester were found at the earliest stages of one and two, when it is potentially curable.
People diagnosed with lung cancer at the earliest stages are nearly 20 times more likely to survive for five years than those whose cancer is caught late.
Lung cancer screening is for current and former smokers aged 55 to 74 who are invited by post or text when the mobile clinic comes to their area.
Professor Richard Booton, Clinical Lead for Lung Cancer at Wythenshawe Hospital part of MFT and Programme Director for the Greater Manchester Lung Cancer Screening programme, said: “We are very proud that Greater Manchester is the first area in the country to reach this milestone. By bringing the clinics directly into the community, we can screen those at most risk and intervene when the cancer is at its most treatable.”
Alison Jones, Director of Cancer Commissioning and Early Diagnosis at Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance, said: “It’s fantastic that we have been able to diagnose more than 1,000 people through lung cancer screening in Greater Manchester. Most importantly, over 3 in 4 cancers have been found an early stage when lung cancer is potentially curable.”
In Greater Manchester, Lung Cancer Screening is jointly organised by the Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance and Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust and supported by the Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust.
It is being rolled out across Greater Manchester – as well as the rest of England – and are already operating across Salford, Tameside, Manchester, Oldham and Rochdale as well as parts of Wigan, Bolton, Stockport and Bury. It begins in parts of Trafford next month.
Lung cancer is the third most common type of cancer in the UK, with 72% of cases caused by smoking, leading to around 35,000 deaths each year.
Among the symptoms of lung cancer are a long-standing cough that gets worse, coughing up blood, persistent breathlessness, continuing tiredness or lack of energy, and an unexplained loss of weight or appetite.
If anyone has symptoms of lung cancer, they should visit their GP straight away and not wait for lung cancer screening.
For more information about NHS Lung Cancer Screening in Greater Manchester visit: https://www.mft.nhs.uk/lunghealthcheck
