Mobile liver cancer scan trucks to offer tests

MOBILE trucks will deliver on-the-spot scans for 22,000 people at risk of liver cancer to catch the disease early, NHS England has said.

A pilot programme carried out more than 7,000 scans between June and January, and identified and referred 830 people with cirrhosis or advanced fibrosis, the leading cause of liver cancer.

About 6,100 people are diagnosed with liver cancer every year but cases have doubled over the past decade.

By this summer, more than 22,000 scans are expected to be completed as the vehicles visit more locations.

The mobile scanning trucks will give those in high-risk communities the scans at GP practices, addiction recovery services, food banks, diabetes clinics, sexual health clinics and homeless shelters, NHS England said.

Dame Cally Palmer, national cancer director for the NHS England, said: “The on-the-spot scans have already found that one in 10 people in communities visited have advanced liver damage that needs further treatment.”