As part of our commemoration to mark 30 years since Roy’s passing, Fiona Castle with lung cancer researcher and charity trustee, Dr Emma O’Dowd, appeared on the BBC Breakfast sofa this morning to reflect on everything we have achieved in the last 30 years.
From advances in treatments to improving support and information as well as the implementation of screening, Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation has remained as dedicated as ever to improve the lives of people with lung cancer.
The feature also included interviews with chief executive Paula Chadwick, senior research fellow Mike Davies and patient advocates Terry Kavanagh and Nick Whitehead, showcasing all areas of the charity’s work.
Paula Chadwick highlighted the incredible work of lung cancer screening and how detection rates are being ‘turned on their heads’.
Latest data show that 75% of people with lung cancer are diagnosed at late stage (3 and 4) when curative treatment is no longer possible. However, for those diagnosed through screening, three quarters are caught at stages one and two.
Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation has long campaigned for lung cancer screening, funding research to develop one of the two risk models now used as part of the targeted lung health check programme operated by NHS England.
Dame Cally Palmer, NHS cancer director, said: “The achievements of the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation are a real testament to his memory.
“In recent years, we’ve seen great progress made in the detection and treatment of lung cancer with the latest data showing that survival rates increased by 12% between 2010 and 2019.
“The NHS Targeted Lung Health Checks, which launched in 2019, have now diagnosed thousands of cases of lung cancer, three quarters of which were found at an earlier stage. This is compared to 29% before the programme launched and is a major step towards us improving survival rates for those diagnosed with lung cancer.”
But Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation does more than just research. It also provides vital support to everyone affected by lung cancer, often at the scariest and most anxious times of their lives.
In his interview Nick Whitehead shared how the Foundation was there for him and his wife after his diagnosis in 2017.
Nick Whitehead, lung cancer patient advocate, said: “Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation gives you hope because the place you’re at [when you’re diagnosed], you can’t see a way out. But Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation has been there for other patients. They’ve been there for patients at different stages and they’ve seen people survive.”
Paula Chadwick, chief executive of Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation, concludes: “It has been wonderful to be able to honour Roy in this way and showcase all the progress that has been made since we lost him.
“But the best way to honour him is to keep going, to remain as dedicated as he was to changing things for the generations that come. So if you have been touched or inspired by any of the coverage you have seen today, please donate and help us keep Roy’s legacy alive.”