LUNG PATIENTS HIT BY BACKLOG

LUNG cancer is the deadliest form of the disease, claiming the lives of 35,300 people in the UK each year — an early diagnosis makes a significant difference, with 57 per cent of those diagnosed at its earliest stage surviving five years or more; at the latest stage it’s three per cent. People with suspected lung cancer have been hit hard by the pandemic, with at least 14,000 fewer having urgent referrals between March and August, reports Cancer Research UK. This may be partly because a key symptom of lung cancer — new, continuous coughing — is also a symptom of Covid and initial advice was to isolate if you had this symptom. Doctors who suspect a problem are also reporting issues accessing chest X-rays. It could take two years to recover from the backlog created by Covid, according to the Royal College of Physicians. Urgent GP referrals for lung cancer were still 39 per cent lower in late August than before lockdown (for breast cancer, referrals are back to 98 per cent of what they were). A study by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine estimated delays in diagnosis could lead to between 1,235 to 1,372 extra lung cancer deaths in England. Patients already diagnosed with lung cancer have suffered delays in treatment, though this is improving. Alison Cook, chair of the Taskforce for Lung Health, says: ‘Even before the pandemic, outcomes for people with lung disease had not improved in more than ten years in the UK, so it is urgent we see an improvement in diagnosis rates now.’