Lung cancer causes more deaths than any other cancer in the United Kingdom, and has historically being diagnosed too late due to there often being no symptoms at the earlier stages.

To address this, the Lung Cancer Screening programme is currently being rolled out across Greater Manchester. Patients between the ages of 55 and 74 (who are either current or former smokers) are being invited to have their lung health assessed through a Lung Health Check, to help diagnose lung cancer early when treatment can be more effective.

To date over 400 people have been diagnosed with lung cancer earlier through these checks across the region, and these checks have proved to be an effective way in detecting lung cancer earlier with approximately 79% of tumours being diagnosed at stage one or two.

This lung cancer screening is also helping to identify other conditions earlier, meaning more participants can receive appropriate treatment and care, with early cancer diagnosis in England reaching its highest ever level according to NHS England.

Fighting lung cancer together – a patient story

Health Innovation Manchester met with two Greater Manchester residents who have recovered from lung cancer, to discuss the importance of getting a lung health check and why they feel initiatives like this can help to improve the diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer.

Julie C (right) was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2015, shortly after retiring from the health and care sector. It was during her rehabilitation and recovery that she met Julie A (left) at Maggie’s in Manchester who attended the lung cancer support group following her diagnosis in 2021.

Both quickly became friends whilst recovering from treatment, however their experiences in receiving their lung cancer diagnosis was very different.

Julie C had been experiencing symptoms and coughing for several weeks before self-referring to her GP, when she was diagnosed with stage 3 lung cancer. Julie had been a smoker previously but had since quit smoking 20-years prior to her lung cancer diagnosis.

Julie A had experienced no symptoms but was contacted by her GP to attend a Lung Health Check when she was diagnosed with stage 3 lung cancer.

Julie C, believes that the Lung Health Checks provide those who qualify with an important opportunity to better understand their lung health. She said: “I think it’s amazing idea and really, they’ve (Lung Health Checks) have been a long time coming because it gives you a very clear opportunity to look at symptoms you might have.

“It’s clear, it’s a simple set of steps to go through, it’s not long-winded and believe me, it’s worth it because you’ll know very soon if you do have lung cancer.”

Watch the full interview with both Julie C and Julie A as they discuss why they feel it is increasingly important for people to have a better understanding of their lung health check, and for those who qualify for a Lung Health Check to consult their GP.

Nicky Timmis, Public and Patient Involvement and Engagement Manager at Health Innovation Manchester, said: “Early detection is key to saving lives and data is already demonstrating that the Lung Health Check Programme is having a significant impact by detecting lung cancer at an earlier stage when treatment can be more effective. We would therefore encourage all patients that are invited to have an NHS Lung Health Check to take up this opportunity when offered.”

Oliver Butterworth, Senior Programme Manager at Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance, said: “I would encourage eligible people to attend their lung health check when they are invited because the evidence shows these checks really do save lives by finding lung cancers at an early stage before people may even have symptoms.”

Clinicians at Wythenshawe Hospital, part of Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT), launched the Lung Health Checks programme in 2019, following a successful pilot which quadrupled lung cancer early diagnosis rates. Since then, hundreds of people in Greater Manchester have been diagnosed with lung cancer at an earlier stage, meaning they are more likely to be eligible for curative treatment.

The Lung Cancer Screening programme is delivered by MFT and the Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance, led by Professor Richard Booton, Clinical Lead for Lung Cancer at Wythenshawe Hospital and Programme Director for the Lung Cancer Screening programme. The research activity which takes places onboard the mobile units is delivered by MFT.

Further information about the Health Innovation Accelerator:

This project is delivered as part of a series of projects that looks to address Greater Manchester’s major morbidities for the Advanced Diagnostics Accelerator (ADA), part of the Health Innovation Accelerator. The Health Innovation Accelerator has been established to rapidly improve the diagnosis and treatment of disease across the 2.8m Greater Manchester population.

The Health Innovation Accelerator encompasses two projects, the Advanced Diagnostics Accelerator and the DEVOTE programme, delivered through a partnership between Health Innovation Manchester, MFT, The University of Manchester, and industry partners.

This project is part-funded by the Greater Manchester Innovation Accelerator programme. Led by Innovate UK on behalf of UK Research and Innovation, the pilot Innovation Accelerators programme is investing £100m in 26 transformative R&D projects to accelerate the growth of three high-potential innovation clusters – Glasgow City Region, Greater Manchester, and West Midlands. Supporting the Government’s levelling-up agenda, this is a new model of R&D decision making that empowers local leaders to harness innovation in support of regional economic growth and help attract private R&D investment and develop future technologies.