Young women warned of lung cancer risks

Seventeen people are still dying from lung cancer each week in Northern Ireland despite a small improvement in survival rates for the disease.

The figures are revealed by a report launched today by the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry (NICR) at Queen's University Belfast.

The NICR is holding a joint launch today with Macmillan Cancer Support which has released its own report on the experience of patients living with lung cancer and their carers in Northern Ireland, highlighting that services are not meeting their needs.

The Queen's report, entitled Monitoring care of patients with lung cancer in Northern Ireland diagnosed 2006, details the facts of the disease from the numbers of people diagnosed, to trends, treatment and survival.

It looked at the experiences of more than 2,200 lung cancer patients over a decade and points to a fall in cases for men under 65 but not for women in this age group. Lung cancer now kills more women than breast cancer in Northern Ireland.

While highlighting the need for continued work to prevent the condition in all sections of the population by addressing smoking, it also acknowledges the commitment of staff who treat patients with the disease.

Among the Queen's University NICR report's findings were:

* Around 900 people are diagnosed with lung cancer in Northern Ireland each year
* Survival, although slightly improved, is very poor. In 1996 only 23 per cent of patients were alive one year after diagnosis. By 2006 this had improved to 27 per cent
* In 2006, 81 per cent of patients had serious symptoms including coughing up blood, pain and breathlessness
* 48 per cent of patients were diagnosed with late stage disease, pointing to the need to further promote earlier diagnosis.
* One third of patients were unsuitable for any type of surgery, radiotherapy or chemotherapy

More positive aspects of the report show:

* Patients are seeking medical advice earlier and waiting less time for investigations
* There is better recording of patients performance and more use of scans
* Two thirds of patients are discussed at multidisciplinary meetings attended by a range of healthcare staff who deal with patients
* There is increased referral to respiratory physicians and palliative care and more patients having chemotherapy
* There is increased equity of service across geographical areas

Dr Anna Gavin, Director of NICR and co-author of the report, said she was concerned that lung cancer was not decreasing in younger women: "Five per cent of female lung cancer cases occurred in those under 50 compared with three per cent of male cases. In fact, lung cancer currently kills more women than breast cancer. Young women who smoke need to think about the risks to their health which may not be fully seen for 20 or 30 years.