Urgent action needed to improve outcomes for lung cancer patients, says expert

Urgent action is needed to improve outcomes for lung cancer patients, a leading lung cancer expert will explain in a public lecture at the University of Leicester.

Dr Ian Woolhouse, a consultant respiratory physician at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, will give this year's Allison Wilson Memorial Lecture on Improving Lung Cancer Outcomes - A Clinical Communities Approach.

The lecture, organised by Leicestershire and Rutland cancer research charity Hope Against Cancer, will highlight how lung cancer remains the commonest cause of cancer death for which urgent improvements in outcomes are needed.

Dr Woolhouse is clinical director on the national project Improving Lung Cancer Outcomes, which aims to reduce process and outcome variation for lung cancer patients in England.

He will explain how 30,000 new patients are diagnosed with lung cancer in England each year, and 75 per cent of those with an advanced form of the disease are not amenable to curative treatment.

The median survival of those diagnosed with lung cancer is 200 days, with 30 per cent surviving for more than one year and only 7 per cent surviving more than five years.

In addition, survival rates across the country vary widely, with 40 per cent variation in survival by cancer network in England.

Dr Woolhouse said: "Whilst there have been small improvements over the last 10 years, the figures remain very concerning and urgent action is needed at all levels to address this. In particular, we need to be able to diagnose lung cancer at a much earlier stage because treatment for these patients can result in long-term cure.

"Our work is helping to improve the situation for lung cancer patients by ensuring that lung cancer teams share best practice to bring the standard of their diagnostic and treatment pathways up to that of the best."

The lecture is a Hope Against Cancer event sponsored by the University of Leicester.

It will be held at the Frank and Katherine May Lecture Theatre, Henry Wellcome Building, University of Leicester, Lancaster Road, on October 17 at 6pm.

Please reserve your free place by contacting the Hope Against Cancer Office on 0116 2700101 or at: [email protected]