Lung cancer is our deadliest killer – early detection will save thousands of lives

No one wants to receive a diagnosis that includes the word “cancer”, no matter how early it is caught.

The fear, the uncertainty – and the hope it’s been caught in time – are all too common.

Lung cancer is this country’s biggest cancer killer – it claims more lives than any other form of the disease.

Tragically, by the time most people are diagnosed, the cancer has already spread. Treatment options are limited and the odds are stacked against them.

We must do better.

We know that the sooner you are diagnosed, the better those odds become. And today, all the information we need to catch lung cancer early is at our fingertips.

This week, we’re announcing that GP practices across England will be required to share data with the Lung Cancer Screening Programme. That means thousands more current and former smokers, aged 55 to 74, will receive an invitation for a lung health check.

Many will go on to have a low-dose CT scan. For many, that scan will detect a cancer that would otherwise have gone undetected until it was too late.

Once fully rolled out, we expect an additional 50,000 cancers to be detected by 2035.

Before the programme was introduced, fewer than one in three cases were diagnosed at an early stage. Now, three in four of them will be caught early, when treatment works best and survival rates are highest.

But there is something else in these figures – something I find genuinely moving.

This programme is reaching the communities the NHS has historically struggled hardest to serve. The most deprived areas of this country – where people have been least likely to receive a timely diagnosis – now record the highest rates of early detection.

This is what a health service that works for everyone looks like. No longer will the likelihood of a potentially life-saving screening offer depend on your postcode.

Through continued modernisation, this government is ensuring the NHS works better – for the people it serves and for the staff who give their all.

Catching cancer earlier is one of the most powerful and effective steps we can take to save lives, reduce suffering and give people more years of healthy, happy life with those they love.

It is central to our 10-Year Health Plan.

To everyone affected by lung cancer – who has lost someone, or who is going through treatment now – I want you to know this:

This government is fighting for you.

We’re rebuilding our NHS so we catch cancer earlier, treat it faster and give every person, in every community, the quickest possible diagnosis and the best possible care.

Stephen Kinnock is Minister of State for Care