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In England, a lung cancer screening program has helped detect the disease earlier in over 5,000 people since it launched in 2019. The program uses specially adapted lorries to visit supermarkets, town centres, and football grounds in areas with high rates of lung cancer, making it the biggest initiative of its kind in NHS history. As 76% of the detected cases were caught at the earliest stage of the disease, experts emphasize that early detection increases a patient’s chances of survival significantly.
The mobile clinics target 55-74-year-old current and past smokers and offer them a health check and a scan if needed. The program is the first of its kind in England and is considered vital because lung cancer usually doesn’t show noticeable symptoms until it has spread through the lungs or other parts of the body. Although it is the third most common type of cancer in the UK, lung cancer leads to approximately 35,000 deaths each year. Symptoms include a long-standing, worsening cough, coughing up blood, persistent breathlessness, continuing tiredness or lack of energy, and unexplained loss of weight or appetite. It is essential that anyone with any of these symptoms visit their GP straight away.
One patient, Phil Bennett, from Droylsden, Manchester, initially ignored a letter inviting him to be screened. But when he did take up the offer, his stage-one lung cancer was discovered through the screening, and its early detection increased his chances of beating the disease. He encourages people to “go and have it done for peace of mind – or if you need treatment, it’ll be sorted straight away. Don’t ignore it. I was very lucky. If you get the invite, you must go along and have it checked. It’s worth in the end. It could save your life.”
The program should be fully rolled out across England by 2030. Cancer Research UK chief executive Michelle Mitchell hopes to see the targeted lung screening implemented throughout the UK so that people can benefit from life-saving checks. The Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation chief executive Paula Chadwick urges everyone who is invited to take up the opportunity offered by the mobile lung-cancer screening program
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