Figures released today show the UK is lagging significantly behind other European countries and the United States in fighting lung cancer, says the British Lung Foundation.
The National Lung Cancer Audit (LUCADA) shows that progress is being made in the diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer, the UK’s biggest cancer killer, but some areas need immediate action.
Key findings include:
- In contrast to Europe and the US where more than one in five people with lung cancer get surgery, only nine percent of UK lung cancer patients get this treatment
- There was evidence of ageism in provision of treatment; over two thirds of patients under the age of 60 received active anticancer treatment, whereas less than half of patients aged patients 70 and over received active treatment
- Rates of biopsy were particularly low, with only 67% patients gaining a diagnosis confirmation, compared to a target rate of 80%
The British Lung Foundation welcomes the fact that two thirds of all new cases in England and Wales have been collected on the LUCADA database, which provides an important insight into how the disease is being managed.
Dame Gill Oliver, chair of the United Kingdom Lung Cancer Coalition (UKLCC), of which the British Lung Foundation is a member, says: “It is disappointing that overall treatment rates in the UK are so low and that patients are still being subjected to a postcode lottery. However, the good news is that if all the centres in England and Wales matched the best in Britain, then we would truly have the world class cancer service pledged in the Cancer Reform Strategy, which would help more people survive this dreadful disease.”
The UKLCC is calling for completion of audit information to be mandatory for all centres, in order to more accurately address areas of concern and we welcome the announcement in the Cancer Reform Strategy that data collection by cancer units will be mandated in the future.
Despite a lack of comprehensive regional data in the audit, it is clear that there are wide variations hospital by hospital and that several centres are achieving treatment rates as high as those in the best international centres. We urge the Department of Health to continue to support the LUCADA programme and to use these data to drive service improvements to bring standards across the UK up to those of the best.
