Using robots to take lung biopsies could be ‘transformative’ for cancer patients

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. This could transform early diagnosis and treatment, reduce the need for repeat scans and treat lung cancer earlier.” In June, the Government announced plans to roll-out a new lung cancer screening programme in England. Mr Lau said that while the UK “is leading the world” in lung cancer screening, “only some of the lung nodules identified during screening are cancerous and need treatment”. The chance of a cure for these patients is therefore vastly improved Prof Pallav Shah Professor Pallav Shah, consultant respiratory physician based at Royal Brompton Hospital, said the new technology is “transformative” as it allows doctors to detect smaller cancerous lung nodules, increasing a patient’s survival rate. “We are in full support of early nodule lung detection and diagnosis and our aim is to bring about a positive transformation in the care pathways for lung cancer, ultimately leading to improved prognosis and well-being of patients.” The treatment landscape of lung cancer has been transformed over the last decade and it’s exciting to see new diagnostic strategies coming through the pipeline for this hard-to-treat disease Marianne Baker, Cancer Research UK Marianne Baker, research information manager at Cancer Research UK, said advancements in technology for the treatment of lung cancer are “exciting”.