GPs are missing the early warning signs of lung cancer, meaning one in three patients will die within 90 days of a diagnosis.
A study recently published in the British Medical Journal has reviewed 20,142 lung cancer patients in the UK aged over 30.
It found that:
- One in 10 patients died within a month of a diagnosis being made
- One in 20 were only diagnosed with lung cancer after their death
- 2,976 patients died between 31 and 90 days of a diagnosis being made
The study also discovered that the more GP consultations a patient attended, the more likely they were to suffer an early death.
This goes against the opinion that people with lung cancer are not seeking help from their GP – something which experts have previously blamed for Britain’s low survival rate.
Lung cancer kills 35,000 every year in the UK, making it the most common type of cancer death.
GPs missing opportunities
In actual fact, patients are regularly visiting their family doctors. In the study, those that died attended their GP on average five times in the months before a diagnosis was made.
GPs are therefore missing opportunities to diagnose lung cancer.
Dr Penny Woods, chief executive of the British Lung Foundation, said: “The finding that one in three UK lung cancer patients dies within three months of diagnosis is sadly a very telling consequence of late presentation and delayed diagnosis.”
“These are major reasons why lung cancer continues to be the biggest cancer killer in the UK, and why survival rates in the country lag behind those throughout Europe and the US.”
Negligent cancer care
If your loved one has died as a result of negligent lung cancer care, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us today. If a GP missed opportunities to make an early diagnosis, which affected the prognosis, there could be grounds for a medical negligence claim.
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