The University of Nottingham

Researchers from The University of Nottingham are to investigate why more than a third of lung cancer patients are diagnosed following an emergency admission to hospital — the highest of any cancer.

These cases represent an estimated 15,000 of hospital admissions and 168,000 bed days each year, at a cost of £37million. The research will help to identify areas for improvement in order to improve the outcomes and experiences of this group of patients and their carers.

The team, led by Dr Andrew Wilcock from the School of Molecular Medical Sciences, is one of nine across the UK to share £1m of funding for lung cancer research from the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation.

Dr Wilcock said: “The team are delighted to have successfully obtained funding from the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation. We are now looking forward to starting the project, which aims to obtain a detailed understanding of the characteristics, needs, experiences and outcomes of patients with lung cancer who are diagnosed following emergency admission. This should help inform the focus of future research and identify areas in the diagnostic and treatment pathway where there is scope to improve the care provided to this group of patients and their carers.

Consultant oncologist David Gilligan, who is head of the charity’s grants committee, said: “Considering the fact it kills more people than any other cancer, lung cancer research is shockingly underfunded. We are delighted to be able to announce these new projects, which we hope will eventually make a real difference to how lung cancer is diagnosed and how patients are treated. None of this would be possible without the generous donations from the public and, in particular, the legacies we have received which fund one in three of all our research projects.”