About Lung Cancer

Lung cancer is the UK’s biggest cancer killer with nearly 35,000 people dying from the disease each year.1 It accounts for around a fifth of all UK cancer deaths (21 per cent) and one in seven (13 per cent) of all new UK cancer cases.1 

More women die from lung cancer than breast cancer1 and, despite being labelled a ‘smoker’s disease’, 6000 people who have never smoked die each year from lung cancer, making it the eighth most common cause of cancer related death in the UK.2 

The UK has among the worst survival outcomes in Europe and among other comparable countries.1 Lung cancer patients in the UK are diagnosed with more advanced disease than many other countries with around one third are diagnosed via an emergency admission to hospital3 – which leads to poorer outcomes. Earlier diagnosis is therefore critical to improving lung cancer survival.

  1. Cancer Research UK statistics accessed October 2023 at: https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/health-professional/cancer-statistics/statistics-by-cancer-type/lung-cancer 
  2. Lung Cancer in never-smokers: a hidden disease. Accessed October 2023: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0141076819843654 
  3. National Lung Cancer Audit Report 2022 accessed October 2023:  https://www.rcplondon.ac.uk/projects/outputs/nlca-annual-report-2022