NHS mobile scanning trucks diagnose thousands of early cases of lung cancer

NHS Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance

By Sarah Lowden

An NHS England lung cancer screening initiative, which uses mobile scanning trucks, has detected the disease in more than 5,000 people over 5 years.

The trucks visit convenient community sites, such as supermarket carparks, sports stadiums and town centres in areas with the highest rates of lung cancer.

More than a third of people diagnosed with lung cancer from the most deprived areas of England were diagnosed at an earlier stage since the targeted lung health checks initiative began, NHS England said.

Dame Cally Palmer, NHS Cancer Director, said: "It has been amazing to see the response, and initiatives like this will make a big difference in improving cancer survival for people throughout the country.”

Lung cancer is the third commonest type of cancer in the UK, with 72% of cases caused by smoking, leading to around 35,000 deaths each year.

NHS data shows there was a 7.4% improvement in early diagnosis rates last year (April 2023 to March 2024) compared to the period before COVID-19 (March 2019 to February 2020).

Under the NHS Targeted Lung Health Check Programme, current and past smokers aged between 55 and 74 are invited to speak with a nurse or other healthcare professional about their lung health and, if they have a higher chance of developing cancer, are offered a CT scan in a mobile scanning unit.

The NHS plans to roll out the programme across the country by 2030.