More people with lung cancer symptoms in the UK should be able to self-refer for tests rather than waiting for their GP to order them, experts have suggested.
They said making it easier for people with symptoms to get chest X-rays could help speed up diagnosis and improve survival rates from the disease.
Dr Stephen Bradley, lead author of the study and a GP practicing in Leeds, said: “A lung cancer diagnosis can be devastating, but catching it early can make a big difference.
The analysis, published in the British Journal of General Practice, cited self-ordered chest X-ray services set up in Leeds and Greater Manchester. Patients with symptoms such as persistent cough, fatigue and difficulty breathing can access radiology services directly under these schemes, with the X-ray report sent to their GP.
The analysis highlighted that people in less affluent groups and smokers are more likely to use the service. Previous research has found that the diagnosis rate is from self-referral (about 1%) It is similar to those referred by a GP in the traditional waysuggesting that people are using the service appropriately. Rolling out these services more widely “warrants urgent consideration” given “the current difficulties patients face in accessing primary care”, according to the authors and the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Charity.
Among other recommendations made by experts is that messages about lung cancer symptoms should be tailored to reach people who have never smoked. The symptoms may be less severeAs well as current and former smokers.
“We need to make it easier for people with symptoms to get tests such as chest X-rays and ways to raise awareness of the disease, including people who have never smoked,” Bradley said.
“This is of course particularly important in the UK as we have The results were consistently poor, compared to other high-income countriesHe added.
According to the NHS, more than 43,000 people are diagnosed with lung cancer in the UK each year. Smoking is the most common cause, accounting for about 70% of cases. But a small but important part – 14% – of those diagnosed with lung cancer have never smoked, and this percentage has increased as smoking rates have declined in the United Kingdom. Treatment is more likely to be successful when cancer is detected early.
In June 2023, it was announced that the lung cancer screening programme, targeting people aged 55-74 and current or former smokers, would be launched and would be available across England by 2029. However, more than half of lung cancer cases arise in People who will not be eligible for screening and not all who are eligible will choose to participate.
Nick Whitehead, 58, from Newton Aycliffe, visited his GP several times with a persistent cough over almost 18 months, but was never sent for a chest X-ray. He was diagnosed with lung cancer two years later when he visited the emergency department after coughing up blood.
“There were many opportunities for me to be diagnosed early,” Whitehead said. “I guess I wasn’t sent for tryouts because I was too fit.”
“As a diver, my lung capacity is good, so I have never had shortness of breath, but since we are constantly told that a persistent cough is a symptom of lung cancer, it is strange that I was not sent for testing.” X-rays at the very least.
Whitehead said he would have referred himself for an X-ray, had that been an option.
Paula Chadwick, chief executive of the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation, said: “All too often we hear stories about people like Nick, whose lung cancer could have been diagnosed sooner.
“It is essential that we do everything we can to change this. We are making progress, largely through screening, with 76% of those arrested in phases one and two being arrested.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “Under this government’s plan for change to radically reform the NHS, we will fight cancer on all fronts – through prevention, diagnosis, treatment and research.
“We are committed to transforming diagnostic services, including lung diseases, so we can detect more cases earlier and treat them faster. We will also deliver 40,000 elective care appointments every week and invest an additional £1.5 billion in new surgery centers and fully operational scanners.” With artificial intelligence.