Calls for targeted screening for lung cancer in Scotland have been backed by a daughter who lost her mother to the disease. Christine Livingstone, a lifelong smoker, died from small cell lung cancer at the age of 52, four months after she first became ill. Cancer Research UK estimates that at least 2,300 lives in the country could be saved over the next decade if targeted screening was introduced for those most at risk. The UK National Screening Committee has recommended that all home nations move towards implementing lung cancer screening. Currently, there are no plans for an equivalent programme in Scotland.
Kelsey Mackay, from Armadale, West Lothian, who lost her mother, said: “The earlier cancer is detected the more successful the outcome is likely to be.” She added: “Mum always spoke about how much she’d enjoy becoming a gran. She’d even knitted some baby clothes for me to give to my own children one day. I treasure these baby clothes and my own children have grown up hearing all about mum.” Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer death in Scotland and the lung cancer death rate is three times higher in the country’s most deprived areas.
The cancer screening charity’s chief executive, Michelle Mitchell, will discuss the case for introducing a targeted lung cancer screening programme in Scotland when she meets Michael Matheson, the Scottish Health Secretary, at the Scottish Cancer Conference in Glasgow. The introduction of lung screening could see 400 extra stage 1 and 2 diagnoses per year in Scotland. The disease is generally identified in later stages (stages 3 and 4). Long-term lung cancer survival rates in the UK are little higher than half a century ago. Earlier diagnosis through screening could help increase these rates
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