More than 10,000 people in England have had lung cancer detected by NHS scanning trucks set up in supermarket car parks, sports stadiums, and high streets, new figures show. Over three-quarters of cases were caught early at stages one and two, NHS England said.
Programme success
The trucks form part of the NHS Lung Cancer Screening Programme, which launched in 2019 in areas hardest hit by the disease. NHS data reveals the initiative has identified 10,678 cases of lung cancer, the majority at an early stage. Catching the disease early means patients are 13 times more likely to survive for five years compared with late diagnosis, officials said.
Expert comments
Professor Peter Johnson, NHS England's national clinical director for cancer, said: "Lung cancer checks and scans save lives, so it's fantastic the NHS has now diagnosed over 10,000 people - the majority at an early stage, when treatment is most effective. The programme has been designed around where people already are, bringing scanners into local communities to make it easier for people to get checked."
Health Secretary James Murray added: "Catching cancer early is a powerful way to save lives and ensure people live better with cancer. This programme shows what the NHS can achieve when we take healthcare to people, rather than waiting for them to come to us. Under our National Cancer Plan, we want three in four people diagnosed from 2035 to be cancer-free or living well after five years."
Patient story
Ken Roberts, 74, from Bolton, was invited for a lung health check when a mobile unit was parked at Morrisons. Despite having no symptoms, he attended and was later diagnosed with stage one lung cancer, which was treatable with surgery. The grandfather-of-five said: "I ummed and ahhed about whether to go, but in the end I went because it was so convenient. Now I just feel really lucky that I went for that lung health check as I so nearly didn't go. And I'm telling everyone to go for theirs when they get the invite."
Future rollout
Around 50,200 new cases of lung cancer are diagnosed in the UK every year, equivalent to 140 a day. The NHS plans to roll out the programme nationwide by 2030, inviting six million people for a lung health check and expecting to diagnose up to 50,000 cases. Murray urged: "I urge anyone who receives an invitation to take it up - it could be the most important thing you do this year."
