Lung cancer surgery rates 'worst in Western world'
LUNG cancer surgery rates in Guernsey are 'worse than almost anywhere else in the Western world', a local respiratory specialist has said, as he warned healthcare services in the island were at breaking point.
Consultant respiratory physician Dr Wasif Anees, pictured, said the full extent of industry concerns had been revealed during a three-year study investigating the late presentation of islanders with lung cancer-type symptoms to their GP.
This compares to a 15% resection rate in UK, which is also below the 16% National Lung Cancer audit target, and to more than 20% across the rest of Europe.
'To catch a cancer early, in either stage one or stage two, is the gold standard in cancer care, as once the cancer has spread it is already too late to carry out a resection,' he said.
'We did the study in Guernsey over three consecutive years, using 120 lung cancer patients, and found our surgical resection rates were just under 10%.
'Results in the UK are notoriously bad compared to the rest of Europe, due to the way the service is funded, however, our resection rates are far worse than almost anywhere else in the Western world.
'As our rates were below 16% we had to do an audit to find out why people were presenting late to the secondary care service.'
