British experts promise to double lung cancer survival rates

Lung cancer experts in Britain say they can double lung cancer survival rates.

Lung cancer is one of the developed world's biggest cancer killers; it causes 33,000 deaths each year in Britain, claims the lives of 7,000 Australians each year and in 2007 it is estimated that 160,390 Americans will die from the disease.

Now leading cancer experts in Britain are calling for the huge national inequalities that currently exist in care to be removed.

They want more efforts to be made to double lung cancer survival rates and have come up with a 12-point plan to develop earlier diagnosis', better treatment and provide more funding for research.

The UK Lung Cancer Coalition (UKLCC) says survival rates are among the worst in Europe with half of all lung cancer patients dying within six months and only Malta had a lower five-year survival rate of lung cancer in Europe.

A recent analysis found only 8.2 per cent are still alive five years after diagnosis in Scotland and 8.4 per cent in England, compared to 16.8 per cent in Iceland.

Half of all lung cancer patients die within six months of diagnosis.

According to the UKLCC a post-code lottery for care is in existence with people four times more likely to survive lung cancer in some parts of England than others.

The UKLCC says part of the problem is that people do not understand what the symptoms of lung cancer are and seek advice from their doctor too late and there is also a certain amount of stigma attached to lung cancer as a smoker's disease.

Lung cancer causes more deaths each year than breast cancer, prostate cancer, bladder cancer and leukaemia combined and accounts for one in 20 of all deaths in the UK.

The Coalition believes the development of screening programmes, better funding of research, earlier diagnosis and greater equity of access to lung cancer specialists would all help to improve survival rates.

The UKLCC says their plan can significantly improve the figures and can double one year and five year lung cancer survival rates by 2010 and 2015.

The government said its Cancer Reform Strategy, to be published at the end of 2007, would help to improve survival.