Missed opportunities for life-saving scans

SIR – I read with interest your report (February 15) that lung cancer scans could save thousands of lives, according to a study at University College London Hospital NHS trust.

This comes as no surprise to those of us who have known, since the original study published in The Lancet in 1999, that low-dose CT scanning could detect early lung cancer, leading to a potential cure for thousands of smokers and ex-smokers. Many other studies have supported these findings.

A number of independent companies started offering such scans, along with similar CT-based tests for colon cancer and heart disease, to the public in 2003. Most of those who shared this vision were vilified by the medical establishment, which, for whatever reason, was fiercely opposed to such services being available in the private sector. We were accused of being a “burden to the NHS” and taking advantage of the “worried well”.

Imagine how many lives of smokers and former smokers might have been saved had such private providers not been driven out of business by political dogma and professional jealousy, and had instead been allowed to develop their services, also improving access to the still inadequate NHS CT service. Dr John Giles

Founder, Lifescan Robertsbridge, East Sussex