Last reviewed: 18 September 2024
Last reviewed: 18 September 2024
The roll out of targeted lung cancer screening is expanding across England, helping detect cancer earlier and improve outcomes. Following this success as well as local pilots, Wales and Scotland now also planning and preparing for rollout.
Lung cancer is the third most common cancer in the UK, and unfortunately outcomes are consistently poor. One reason for this is that people presenting with symptoms are often diagnosed at a later stage, where there are fewer treatment options available. That’s why it is a priority to roll out lung cancer screening across the UK to improve earlier stage diagnosis and lung cancer outcomes.
In 2022, the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) recommended targeted lung cancer screening every 2 years for people aged 55 to 74 at high risk of lung cancer. In the areas where lung screening is underway, 75% of the cancers detected are found at an early stage. It is also closing the gap in early-stage diagnosis between the most and least deprived populations.
The national roll out of a targeting lung cancer screening programme in England was first announced in 2023. Lung cancer screening is being offered every 2 years to people registered with their GP, aged between 55-74 years who have a history of smoking or are current smokers. This rollout follows the success of NHS England’s pilot programme, called the Targeted Lung Health Check (TLHC) scheme, which started in 2019. This pilot programme found 76% of lung cancers in those screened were diagnosed at an earlier stage.
As national rollout has expanded, this trend has continued, with data from May 2026 showing that more than 10,000 lung cancers have been diagnosed through the NHS lung cancer screening programme and more than three quarters of these were detected at an early stage.
NHS England has now reached over 50% of the eligible population with the targeted lung screening rollout, with the National Cancer Plan outlining an ambition to reach 100% coverage by December 2030.
In June 2025, following the success of the Welsh Lung Health Check pilot, the Welsh Government announced their decision to roll out a targeted lung cancer screening programme. Public Health Wales are leading the planning and implementation of the programme and anticipate the first people will be invited to screening in 2028.
We wrote about the Welsh government announcement in more detail here.
A lung cancer screening pilot called the LUNGSCOT study concluded in August 2023 in Scotland, and planning for nationwide implementation is underway. We will add further details as plans develop.
Queens University Belfast is running a project called LUNG SHOT which is modelling how a future lung cancer screening programme could be implemented and delivered in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
Learn what happens at each stage of the targeting lung cancer screening pathway, who is invited, how risk is assessed, and what happens after a scan.
Targeted lung cancer screening can support earlier diagnosis by identifying people at higher risk of lung cancer before symptoms develop.
You can contact our Strategic Evidence team if you have any questions.
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