NHS England is launching a groundbreaking pilot programme to revolutionise lung cancer diagnosis by integrating artificial intelligence (AI) and robotic technology. This strategic move aligns with a major commitment to offer lung cancer screening to all eligible smokers and ex-smokers by 2030, aiming to significantly reduce the disease's high mortality rate through earlier detection.
The diagnostic pilot, based at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, combines two key innovations. First, AI software rapidly analyses CT lung scans, precisely flagging suspicious nodules. Second, clinicians then use a sophisticated robotic catheter system, guided through the airways, to take highly accurate tissue biopsies from nodules as small as 6 mm, even those deep within the lung. This combined approach is intended to replace weeks of repeated scanning and invasive procedures with a single, targeted diagnostic step, promising faster, safer, and more accurate results while reducing patient anxiety.
This technological push complements the national strategy to expand lung health checks. Since 2019, the targeted lung health check programme has been progressively rolled out, already screening over 1.5 million high-risk individuals and identifying many cancers at treatable stages. Full expansion by 2030 is projected to be a major turning point, potentially identifying up to 50,000 lung cancers by 2035, with an estimated 23,000 detected earlier, saving thousands of lives.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting and NHS England's National Clinical Director for Cancer, Professor Peter Johnson, have praised the AI-robotics combination as a major advance that enhances the successful screening programme. If the pilot proves effective, there are plans for rapid expansion to other major trusts, including King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust.
Furthermore, the initiative is critical for health equity, seeking to narrow the nine-year life expectancy gap between the most and least deprived parts of England, where lung cancer disproportionately affects the population. By accelerating access to treatment through faster and more precise diagnosis, the AI and robotic biopsies are expected to significantly increase the proportion of lung cancers detected at earlier stages (Stage 1 or 2), which is strongly associated with better survival outcomes. The NHS will closely monitor the pilot, which could become a national blueprint for transforming lung cancer diagnostics and fulfilling the 2030 screening pledge.
