A Black Country screening programme launched 18 months ago is continuing to improve the early diagnosis of lung cancer in Sandwell residents.
The Lung Cancer Screening Programme (formerly known as Targeted Lung Health Checks) has held lung health check appointments with over 18,000 people in Sandwell since it was rolled out across the region.
Around 6,200 people were scanned after being found to be at a high risk of developing lung cancer, with scans diagnosing a total of 41 people with stage 1 or 2 lung cancer so far.
The screening programme has also detected other forms of cancer in an additional 14 patients, including breast cancer and bowel cancer, and has performed around 700 surveillance scans on patients.
Sixty-nine-year-old Noel Cunningham from Great Barr quit smoking in 2017 following a heart attack. After contracting COVID and still feeling unwell, he visited his GP and was asked to attend a lung cancer screening appointment, which detected stage 3A cancer in his right lung and his thoracic lymph nodes.
He said: “If I hadn’t been sent for this screening, I would have been none the wiser.
“It’s been a bit of journey, but I’ve had a lot of fantastic people take care of me, and I’m so grateful to the lung cancer screening team.
“I would recommend everyone go to their appointment. Nobody wants to hear the word cancer, but if I hadn’t gone, I could still be here today not even knowing I had it.”
Following surgery and chemotherapy, he has now been given the all clear.
Patients with suspected lung cancer are reviewed by a multidisciplinary team at Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust, consisting of a lung cancer screening nurse, a specialist clinic lead respiratory consultant, a pathway coordinator and radiologists.
Dr Suhaila Mendes, Respiratory and General Internal Medicine Consultant said: “Patients who receive an early diagnosis are more likely to have successful treatments, so if you are invited for an appointment, please do not hesitate to attend.
“Our team has supported many patients who have been diagnosed with cancer, and we will continue to dedicate ourselves to fighting this often-deadly disease in our local population.”
The Black Country Lung Cancer Screening programme is coordinated by the West Midlands Cancer Alliance (WMCA) and forms a key component of its early diagnosis programme, which aims to improve patient outcomes through detecting cancers at the earliest stage (stages 1 and 2). The West Midlands-wide programme is funded by the WMCA, via NHS England’s national programme funding, and has helped reduce health inequalities in areas with some of the country’s highest incidences of lung cancer and mortality rates.
Screenings are currently delivered out in the community. Those who are registered with a GP in Sandwell and are aged between 55 and 74 and smoke or have smoked in the past, are eligible for an invite.