Wales 'lowest UK lung cancer survival rate' after five years

Wales needs "drastic improvement" in lung cancer care to improve its five-year survival rates, currently the lowest in the UK, experts have said.

Only 6.6% of Welsh sufferers are still alive five years after diagnosis, compared to 16% in England.

The UK Lung Cancer Coalition wants politicians and health professionals to raise the rate to 25% by 2025, which it said would prevent 600 deaths.

The Welsh Government said it is already working on some of the recommendations.

Lung cancer remains the biggest killer of cancer patients in Wales, with nearly 2,000 deaths per year, or almost 22% of all cancer deaths, more than deaths from breast and bowel cancer combined.

The UKLCC report, 25 by 25: A ten-year strategy to improve lung cancer survival rates, found in a survey of 148 health specialists dealing with lung cancer that 65% of them believed early diagnosis to be the most important factor in improving survival rates.

Across a UK sample of 102 patients, only 27% said they had visited their doctors because they had recognised the symptoms of lung cancer.

The report said there are wide variations and inequalities in lung cancer treatment around Wales.

Only 12% of patients are diagnosed at stage one (the least serious) of the disease, and more than 10% do not have access to a clinical nurse specialist.

However it acknowledged that "significant steps" had been taken to improve outcomes, and the Welsh Government had identified lung cancer as one of five national cancer priority areas and taken steps to improve survival outcomes.

'We are not complacent'

Dr Ian Williamson, a consultant respiratory physician and assistant medical director of cancer services at Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, said: "Despite concerted efforts by the Welsh Government and Public Health Wales to tackle inequalities and improve outcomes, five-year survival rates in Wales still lag behind our European counterparts and compare very poorly with other major common cancer types."

Last year, figures from Public Health Wales showed the rate of the disease in Welsh women had risen by 35% over a decade.

The UKLCC is calling on the Welsh Government to carry out a number of measures, including:

• a public consultation on the current National Cancer Standards for Wales, which should then be updated based on recommendations provided

• review cancer diagnostic services in Wales, with a focus on lung cancer

• ensure all patients have access to a lung cancer clinical trial nurse in all aspects of their care

• work with other bodies to assess and address local variations in lung cancer treatment.

A Welsh Government spokeswoman said: "Overall cancer survival rates in Wales continue to improve and one year survival for lung cancer has also risen. However, we are not complacent and are already taking forward many of the recommendations in this report.

"This includes improving lung cancer resection rates, supporting GPs to review cases of lung cancer in order to provide better care, and delivering a national awareness campaign on lung cancer symptoms."

She added the number of adults smoking had fallen to 19% in 2015 from 26% in 2004.