The NHS England national lung cancer screening programme launches in Peterborough and Huntingdon this week, which will detect lung cancer early and save lives.
The scheme offers free and easy-to-access to screening for people considered most at risk of developing lung cancer.
Current and former smokers aged between 55 and 74 and who are registered with a GP will be invited to a screening appointment.
An estimated 98,000 people in Peterborough and Cambridgeshire meet these criteria and the number is expected to rise to over 110,000 by 2029.
Lung cancer is the third most common cancer in the UK but the most common cause of cancer death, accounting for 21% of all cancer deaths – equating to approximately 35,000 people each year across the UK.
More than 70% of all lung cancers are caused by smoking.
Professor Robert Rintoul, Lung Cancer Consultant at Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Co-clinical Director of the Lung Cancer Screening Programme in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, said:
“We are delighted that the screening programme is launching in Peterborough and Huntingdon. As the specialist lung hospital for the east of England, we treat lung cancer patients across the region including the north of Cambridgeshire.
“In the UK, just 16% of lung cancer patients survive five or more years.
“This is mainly because most people do not develop any symptoms – such as a persistent cough, coughing up blood, chest infections and weight loss - until the disease is more advanced and therefore harder to treat and cure.
“Screening has been shown to find most lung cancers at a much earlier stage, meaning treatment has a much higher chance of curing the cancer. This will make a big difference in improving lung cancer survival.”
People who are diagnosed with lung cancer at the earliest stages (1 and 2) are nearly 20 times more likely to survive for five years.
Eligible people in Huntingdon and Peterborough can expect a letter from their GP in the next few weeks, inviting them to book an initial telephone assessment.
A preliminary assessment is then carried out by a specially trained healthcare professional, who looks at various health and lifestyle factors, as well as the person’s smoking record.
People who meet certain criteria will then be invited to attend a face-to-face visit including a CT scan on a mobile screening unit in their local community.
These mobile units will be based across Peterborough and Huntingdon, starting in central Peterborough.
Dr Robert Buttery, Consultant Respiratory Physician at Royal Papworth Hospital and Hinchingbrooke Hospital, added: “CT screening will now pick up lung cancers at a much earlier stage of the disease.
“We know from extensive trial data that we should be able to offer curative treatments for most of the lung cancer patients we identify through the lung cancer screening programme.
“This will have a huge benefit for these patients and their families, and for their chances of surviving and recovering from the cancer.”
The Peterborough and Huntingdon launch is the latest phase of expansion of the NHS England lung cancer screening programme which was first introduced in 2019 under the lung health check programme.
The scheme is expected to be rolled out in Cambridge and south Cambridgeshire in April 2025.
Royal Papworth Hospital was involved in some of the early research to demonstrate proof of concept and cost effectiveness of lung cancer screening. In the UK lung cancer screening trial (UKLS study), 50% of the patients were recruited at Royal Papworth.
The results of this, and other research, led to the announcement of the new national lung cancer screening programme in 2023.
In those areas of England targeted during the early phases of the lung cancer screening programme, more than a million people have accepted the invitation for screening and screening has diagnosed more than 5,500 people with lung cancer.
More than 75% of these lung cancers were found at an early stage. Outside of the screening programme, currently only a quarter of lung cancers are detected at an early stage where treatment, such as an operation, is more likely to be successful.
Dr Stuti Mukherjee, local GP and Clinical Lead for Cancer and Diagnostics at NHS Cambridgeshire & Peterborough, said: “Early diagnosis can save lives. I would urge everyone who receives the invitation to make an appointment. It will likely provide you with peace of mind, but it could also save your life.”
Discover more information about the NHS England Targeted Lung Health Check Programme.