A national targeted lung cancer screening programme designed to catch cancer sooner or prevent it altogether has been announced by the Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. Each year the programme - which will cost £270 million annually once fully implemented - is expected to detect cancer in as many as 9,000 people, deliver almost one million scans and provide treatment earlier.
The rollout follows a successful opening phase where approximately 70% of the screening took place in mobile units parked in convenient places - such as supermarket car parks - to ensure easy access and focused on more deprived areas where people are 4 times more likely to smoke.
The programme, backed by a recommendation from the UK National Screening Committee - will use patient’s GP records for those aged 55 to 74 to identify current or former smokers. 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 2 years.
During the initial phase almost 900,000 people were invited for checks, 375,000 risk assessments made and 200,000 scans were carried out. More than 2,000 people were detected as having cancer, 76% at an earlier stage compared to 29% in 2019 outside of the programme.
Health and Social Care Secretary, Steve Barclay said: “Through our screening programme we are now seeing more diagnoses at stage 1 and stage 2 in the most deprived communities which is both a positive step and a practical example of how we are reducing health inequalities.
“Rolling this out further will prolong lives by catching cancer earlier and reducing the levels of treatment required not just benefiting the patient but others waiting for treatment.”
It is estimated the rollout will mean 325,000 people will be newly eligible for a first scan each year with 992,000 scans expected per year in total. Additional radiographers, due to be appointed as part of the long term workforce plan, will help to support the programme.
Anyone assessed as being at high risk of lung cancer will be referred to have a low dose computed tomography (LDCT) scan and subsequent diagnosis and treatment if needed. Those whose scans are negative will be reinvited for further scans every 24 months, until they pass the upper age limit. Some people who test negative but are found to have nodules will also be reinvited for more frequent scans.
