Artificial intelligence and robotic technology could soon determine whether patients have lung cancer as the NHS launches a new pilot to help with quicker diagnoses.
The procedure, which is expected to be made available more widely in 2030, is being run by Guy’s and St Thomas’s NHS Foundation Trust and comes as part of broader efforts to expand lung cancer screening nationwide.
The method uses AI to identify abnormal spots or nodules, which is followed by the use of robotic catheters to take precise biopsies. So far, 300 patients have undergone the robotic biopsy procedure, with 215 of them going on to receive cancer treatment.
Health secretary Wes Streeting, who previously had robotic surgery during his kidney cancer treatment, said: “When I was diagnosed with kidney cancer, the NHS saved my life using robotic technology.”
The pilot will catch cancer earlier and replace “weeks of invasive testing with a single targeted procedure”, Mr Streeting added.
Specialists at Guy’s and St Thomas’s NHS Foundation Trust have already tested the method on hundreds of patients, with the new pilot expected to involve a further 250 patients.
Plans are also in place to expand the procedure to King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust.
The procedure uses AI software to analyse lung scans and flag nodules. Doctors then use a robotic catheter to take precise biopsies directly from the nodule, which are then analysed in a lab to diagnose or rule out cancer.
These nodules may go undetected at screening and can be harder for medics to reach to take biopsies, leaving patients to wait for repeat scans to see if they grow.
Mr Streeting said: “Lung cancer is one of the biggest killers in the UK and this pilot will help to catch it earlier, replacing weeks of invasive testing with a single targeted procedure.
“For patients waiting anxiously for answers, this speed and precision can be life-changing.”
Lung cancer is the third most common cancer in the UK, with more than 49,000 new diagnoses and around 33,000 deaths every year.
Trials of targeted lung cancer screening started in 2019, with the programme rolled out nationally in 2023. Since it started, more than 1.5 million people have been screened.
The expansion of the programme will invite a further 1.4 million people next year alone, as officials estimate that screening could diagnose up to 50,000 cancers by 2035, at least 23,000 of which will be at an earlier stage.
The pilot comes as the government hopes to expand the use of AI in healthcare, and “make the NHS the most AI-enabled health system in the world”.
Last September, Mr Streeting said: “The AI revolution is here, and we are arming staff with the latest ground-breaking technology, so patients get faster and smarter care.
“This government is reinstating the UK’s position as a technology superpower – driving vital investment and economic growth as we build an NHS fit for the 21st century.”
Professor Peter Johnson, NHS England’s national clinical director for cancer, said: “Our lung cancer screening programme means that we are picking up more cancers at an early stage than ever, and by bringing AI and robotics together in this trailblazing NHS pilot, we’re bringing in the very latest technology to give clinicians a clearer look inside the lungs and support faster, more accurate biopsies.
“This is a glimpse of the future of cancer detection.”
