West Midlands lung cancer diagnoses shifting to earlier stages thanks to screening programme
Doctors say region seeing dramatic improvement — with 80% now caught at stages one and two through targeted checks
Harvir Singh, Senior Programme Manager for Early Diagnosis at the West Midlands Cancer Alliance, says early diagnosis rates in the region have improved significantly, largely due to the lung cancer screening programme.
“Lung cancer is one of the big four most prevalent cancers across the West Midlands and across the country,” he explained.
“Historically it’s been one of the ones that has the lowest early diagnosis rates.”
Nationally, only around 30% of lung cancer patients were typically diagnosed at stage one or two — when treatment is more likely to be successful — with the majority identified at stages three and four.
But figures in the West Midlands linked to the lung cancer screening programme show a dramatic shift.
“Patients getting diagnosed with lung cancer through the lung cancer screening programme are now getting diagnosed sort of 80% at stages one and two versus three and four,” Mr Singh said.
He added that the impact on survival and outcomes is significant.
“It’s absolutely changed the complexion of that tumour site and most importantly the survivability and the outcomes for those patients that get diagnosed through it.”
Some of the percentages cited are West Midlands figures, though Mr Singh said they would likely be similar nationally as screening expands.
The lung cancer screening programme is designed to detect disease before symptoms appear — something health leaders say is crucial.
Screening can identify problems even when someone has “zero symptoms”, meaning cancers are picked up at a far more treatable stage.
Mr Singh said progress is being made, though more work remains.
“We are seeing progress. I’m not going to say it’s as much as we want — because it’s never going to be as much as we want to see — but yes, we are seeing progress.”
Cancer alliances act as the vehicle for delivering national cancer strategies locally, working across NHS trusts and regional partners to improve outcomes and reduce inequalities.
For a region that has historically faced low early diagnosis rates for lung cancer, the shift from around 30% to 80% early-stage detection through screening represents a major step forward — and one health leaders hope will continue to save lives across the West Midlands.