Expand screening for lung cancer beyond long-time heavy smokers: Expert

3 in 4 cases diagnosed too late; nearly half the patients have never smoked in their lives

- Salma Khalik

Some doctors are calling for more people to be screened for lung cancer in the hope that this will lead to earlier diagnosis and better outcomes. Cancer accounts for more than 28 per cent of deaths in Singapore, with lung cancer the biggest killer.

The latest data from the Singapore Cancer Registry for the five years from 2017 to 2021 showed that lung cancer killed about 100 people here each month - which is 36 per cent more than the 74 who succumbed to colorectal cancer, the second-biggest killer cancer.

This is despite a lot more people being diagnosed with colorectal cancer 204 against 149 diagnosed with lung cancer each month.

One reason lung cancer is often fatal in Singapore is that three in four patients are diagnosed at stages 3 or 4, when the cancer has already spread, and cure is difficult. There are usually no symptoms in the early stages of lung cancer.

Professor Lee Pyng, a senior respiratory and critical care consultant at the National University Hospital (NUH), said: "Right now, 68 per cent of lung cancers present as stage 4, where the fiveyear survival is 20 per cent."

She is a strong advocate of expanding screening beyond the recommendation current of screening only long-time heavy smokers.

This is because, based on a study by the National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS), almost half the lung cancer patients in Singapore have never smoked in their lives.