UK experts urge improvement in cancer survival

Lung specialists say early diagnosis is key to beating killer disease

Survival rates for patients with lung cancer in the UK are “lagging”, experts have said.

The UK Lung Cancer Coalition, which is made up of various lung charities and sponsored by the pharmaceutical industry, has called for a “drastic improvement” in lung cancer care to drive up survival rates.

A poll of 150 lung specialists, presented in a new report by the coalition, found two thirds believed that the most important factor for improving five-year survival rates was ensuring patients received an early diagnosis.

But a separate survey of 100 lung cancer patients or their carers found that 36% waited more than a month for a definitive diagnosis – and 17% waited more than two months. Meanwhile, 43% of patients said they waited for more than a month for the initiation of treatment after a diagnosis was confirmed.

Lung cancer has been the UK’s biggest cancer killer for the past decade, the report states.

It adds that lung cancer has one of the lowest survival outcomes of any cancer type.

The coalition has challenged governments across the United Kingdom to increase five year survival rates to 25% by 2025.

Just 9.8% of Scots diagnosed with lung cancer live for five years.

The report authors make a series of recommendations on how to improve survival rates including an audit of cancer waiting times.