New treatment for lung cancer data story

The National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service (NCRAS) analysed patient data to understand how well a new lung cancer treatment is working. Stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) was introduced in 2013 to treat non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and this was the first time the treatment has been studied in depth across England. By analysing patient data NCRAS found that the risk of death was lower for patients with stage 1 NSCLC treated with SABR compared to fractionated radiotherapy.  This research adds to the evidence that SABR has a survival benefit compared to fractionated radical radiotherapy and supports the need for patients to have better access to SABR across the country.

England and the UK have lower rates of lung cancer survival compared to other countries around the world. It is important to understand how well treatments are working to make sure that everyone can have access to the most effective treatment. Survival rates from NSCLC could improve if more patients were treated with SABR.

Patient data has shown that SABR lowers the risk of death for patients with NSCLC compared to fractionated radiotherapy. SABR treatment gives a higher dose of radiation that is more precise which means that patients do not need to visit the hospital as much. SABR treatment could be offered to more people, such as older, frailer patients or those with other health conditions who are not able to have surgery. This could help save lives in England and the UK by offering an option to patients who may otherwise go untreated.

NCRAS used patient data from the Radiotherapy Data Set (RTDS), held and maintained by NCRAS.

NCRAS has legal permission to collect patient level data and use it for research to protect the health of the population. This permission was granted to NCRAS under Section 251 of the NHS Act 2006, whilst it was still part of Public Health England (PHE).

The National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service (NCRAS) in NHS England.