Somerset, Wiltshire, Avon and Gloucestershire Cancer Alliance
Lung Cancer Screening Programme
Your lungs work hard for you throughout your life. As you get older, it’s worth getting them checked out
SWAG Cancer Alliance's Lung Cancer Screening (LCS) Programme gives people a chance to check their lung health. We will test how well your lungs are functioning and offer advice and support around keeping your lungs healthy. Most of the time, we do not find any problems. In small number of cases, where a problem is picked up with a person’s lungs or breathing, finding it early could make treatment easier and more successful.
Lung cancer causes more deaths than any other cancer in the UK as it is frequently diagnosed at a later stage than other cancers. There are often no signs or symptoms of lung cancer at an early stage. Lung cancer screening aims to find lung cancer early, sometimes before you have symptoms, when it is much more treatable - ultimately saving more lives.
The lung health check looks at how well your lungs are working and can help diagnose lung cancer as early as possible. Early diagnosis can make lung cancer more treatable and make treatment more successful.
“If I hadn’t have gone for my screening, I think I would be in a very bad way now. Life is good, 5 months after my operation to remove lung cancer.”
- Liz, Lung Cancer Screening Patient, diagnosed in 2024
Lung health checks are being offered to people between the ages of 55 – 74 who are current or former smokers.
Eligible individuals will be sent a letter inviting them to a telephone lung health check. This may lead to a face-to-face appointment and low-dose CT scan for some individuals.
We are hoping to be able to offer Lung Health Checks to everyone who meets these criteria across Somerset, Wiltshire, Avon and Gloucestershire in the next few years, so if you are not invited initially, you will be soon.
Contact our team on 0117 233 8127 or email: inl.swag.lcs@nhs.net
Liz's Story
In November 2024, Liz received an invitation to attend a lung health check. She’d often joked with her husband about her “left lung playing up,” but never imagined it could be something serious. That screening led to a diagnosis of lung cancer - a diagnosis that was luckily caught early and could be treated.
“If you’re given the chance of a scan or test for any medical issue, GO FOR IT don’t make an excuse or delay it could save your life or even settle your mind over an unfounded worry.” - Rosie Bouch, patient, University Hospitals Bristol and Weston
