Symptoms of lung cancer can be vague and may be mistaken for other illnesses, such as chest infections. Delayed detection of lung cancer means that the disease has had more time to progress and is often at an advanced stage at the time of diagnosis.
National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service (NCRAS) data show that almost half of all lung cancers are stage 4 at diagnosis, whereas the majority of breast and prostate cancers are stage 1 or 2 at diagnosis. Late diagnosis, where curative treatment is not possible, is a contributing factor to poor survival rates for people with lung cancer.
(Source: NICE website)
Recognition of lung cancer