People in deprived areas are now more likely to be diagnosed with lung cancer at an earlier stage, thanks to the success of NHS targeted lung health checks which have been introduced to a number of locations across the east of England and nationally.

For the first time ever, new data shows more than a third of people diagnosed with lung cancer from the most deprived fifth of England were diagnosed at stage one or two in 2022 (34.5%) – up from 30% in 2019.

Lung MOTs (or lung health checks), take place in mobile trucks in supermarket carparks and in other community settings such as local hospitals and leisure centres. They launched in 2018 in areas of the country with some of the highest incidences of lung cancer and lowest lung cancer survival rates – and they have already made an impact on earlier diagnoses. In the east of England they have been introduced in Great Yarmouth and Gorleston, Southend, Luton, Thurrock, Harlow and parts of central Bedfordshire. The service will be expanded across the region, being introduced to Peterborough and north east Essex over the coming months, and it is expected that by 2029 all eligible people in the east of England will have been invited.

As part of the biggest programme to be launched to improve earlier cancer detection in health history, the NHS has now teamed up with the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation on a new campaign to encourage the hundreds of thousands of people who are invited each month to take up the potentially lifesaving scan.

The campaign will be running over the coming months across social media, through online advertising and on posters in areas where lung checks are operating.

More than 300,000 (313,387) people have already taken up the offer nationally and the trucks and community lung health check units have diagnosed more than 1,750 (1,779) people with lung cancer. Over three-quarters (76%) of those who took part in lung health checks and received a diagnosis of lung cancer were caught at stage one or two, compared with just a third caught at early stages in 2018.

Dr Linda Hunter, Clinical Lead from the East of England Cancer Alliances, NHS England, said: “The results so far from the lung health checks are really very encouraging. We are seeing so many cases being diagnosed at an earlier stage through this scheme and in areas where typically we would see a high incidence of late diagnoses.

“If you are in an area where lung health checks are happening you will be contacted if you are eligible and invited to participate. We would urge anyone who receives an invite for a lung health check appointment from the Lung Health Team or from their GP practice to take up their appointment and get checked out. Invites are being sent to people in participating areas who are aged between 55-74 who smoke or who have a history of smoking.”

Smoking causes more than seven out of ten lung cancer cases in the UK. Screening using CT scans has been shown in trials to reduce lung cancer mortality by 26% in men and between 39% and 61% in women.

Statistics for the east of England region show that lung cancer is the largest contributor to cancer deaths in the region – with around 4,130 people in the east of England diagnosed with lung cancer each year and 2,900 patients dying of lung cancer in the region each year. It is the fourth most commonly diagnosed cancer in the region.

People diagnosed with lung cancer at the earliest stage are nearly 20 times more likely to survive for five years than those whose cancer is caught late.

Now at 43 sites across the country and seven sites across the east of England (with a further two sites in the coming months), the mobile trucks and community units scan those most at risk from lung cancer, including current and ex-smokers, inviting them for an on-the-spot chest scan for those at the highest risk. Advice to help people stop smoking is also provided to those who attend.

Cancer survival is at an all-time high in England and the latest data shows the NHS is diagnosing more patients with cancer at an earlier stage than ever before. Over 100,000 (104,012) patients were diagnosed with cancer at stages one or two when it is easier to treat – the highest proportion on record.

National Director for Cancer, Dame Cally Palmer, said: “These findings are incredibly important – they show the power behind targeted health programmes with the NHS continuing its drive to detect cancers earlier by going into the heart of communities that may be less likely to come forward.

“While early diagnosis rates for cancer have traditionally been lower for deprived groups, thanks to the rollout of lung trucks, the NHS has turned a huge corner – and is now finding and treating those who would otherwise have been undetected.

“If you have had an invite, please take it up, and as ever, if you are showing any signs of cancer, please come forward to your GP – getting checked could save your life.”

Health Minister Helen Whately said: “Catching lung cancer early saves lives, which is why we’re prioritising early diagnosis for those most at risk.

“These figures show how care closer to home for 300,000 people, using NHS lung trucks, has potentially saved over 1,750 lives.

“We’re laser-focused on fighting cancer on all fronts – prevention, diagnosis, and treatment, backed up with funding and research – and alongside these mobile trucks we have also opened 100 community diagnostic centres, which have delivered over 3.6 million additional tests, checks and scans, including lung checks.”

Chief executive of Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation, Paula Chadwick, said: “It is truly heartening to see the wonderful progress being made in the early detection of lung cancer because of the targeted lung health check programme and these checks are allowing us to get ahead of lung cancer for the first time, catching the disease at the earliest opportunity, often before symptoms even start, and treating it with an aim to cure.

“So many people have already benefitted from having a lung health check but there are also a lot of people who have been invited and not taken up the opportunity, so I urge anyone who receives an invitation to have the check – even if you feel well, even if you have no symptoms, even if you’re convinced there’s nothing wrong! You have been invited for a reason and when it comes to lung cancer, it is always best to check.”

Cancer Research UK’s chief executive, Michelle Mitchell, said: “It’s really encouraging to see these positive results from the rollout of the NHS lung trucks programme, around 14,300 cases of lung cancer each year in England are linked with deprivation and sadly, people living in England’s most deprived areas are more likely to die from the disease than those in less deprived areas.

“Lung cancer is an area where significant progress needs to be made which will improve cancer inequalities, it’s also the most common cause of cancer death in the UK, but spotting it early – when treatment is more likely to be successful – can save lives.”

Jacqueline, 57, is a mum and grandmother from Luton who is an ex-smoker and suffers from COPD and fibromyalgia. Jacqueline was invited for a lung health check and following scans and subsequent diagnosis, she has received life-changing cancer treatment through the programme. Without the lung health check she might not be here now.

She said: “I initially thought a phone conversation was a waste of time as I’d recently had a COPD check-up, but when my breathing got worse I decided to take up the offer of the appointment.

“Following a phone call, I was then referred for a CT scan at the mobile unit, and they found that I had a carcinoma on my upper right lung.”

Following treatment at Harefield Hospital a year ago to remove her upper right lung and lymph nodes, Jacqueline has made a full recovery from the surgery, and will be monitored for the next five years.

She said: “I am so lucky the Lung Health Check Programme team called me. Had they not I might not have bothered and I might not be sitting here now. If you are invited, please do go along – it’s only a couple of hours of your life, but it could save it.”

Not only do the lung health checks scan for cancer, but they have also identified thousands of people with other undiagnosed conditions, including respiratory and cardiovascular disease, enabling them to access the treatment they need earlier, and helping to prevent potential hospitalisations.

Thanks to awareness campaigns and early diagnosis drives, the NHS has been seeing and treating record numbers of people for cancer, with over 2.8 million getting checked for cancer in 2022, and over 320,000 people received treatment for cancer in the same year – up on 2.35 million checks and 8,000 treatments in the same period before the pandemic.

The NHS has also made considerable strides in bringing down the 62-day wait cancer backlog with 4,868 fewer people (19,027) waiting in March 19 compared to the same period the month before (23,874).

The main symptoms of lung cancer include:

• a cough that does not go away after three weeks
• a long-standing cough that gets worse
• chest infections that keep coming back
• coughing up blood
• an ache or pain when breathing or coughing
• persistent breathlessness
• persistent tiredness or lack of energy
• loss of appetite or unexplained weight loss